The Nymphaeaceae includes 50 species of 6 genera, of which two occur in the Pantanal wetland, Nymphaea (7 species) and Victoria (1). The surveyed species of Nymphaea all belong to the subgenus Hydrocallis, neotropical with nocturnal flowering. The species found in the Pantanal are Victoria amazônica (Poepp.) Sowerby, Nymphaea amazonum Mart. & Zucc. subsp. amazonum and subsp. pedersenii Wiersema, N. belohylla Trickett, N. gardneriana Planch., N. jamesoniana Planch., N. lingulata Wiersema, N. oxypetala Planch, and N. prolifera Wiersema. The species with the widest distribution in the Pantanal is N. amazonum. N. lingulata and N. belophylla are cited for the first time for the Pantanal. A species identification key based on morphological characters, brief descriptions, ecological observations, distribution and illustrations are presented.
aquatic plant; aquatic macrophyte; Nymphaeaceae; waterlily; wetland