Lucknow, Nov 4 (IANS): The largest water lily among the flowering plant species has bloomed at the CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) in Lucknow, bringing to fruition the patience and hard work of the scientists of the institute.

The largest water lily is known as Giant Victoria Amazonica. It is a species of flowering plant, the largest of the water lily family.

NBRI authorities have thrown the garden open to the public so that people can view this unique flower.

Planted in May this year, the plant bloomed after six months of consistent work by senior scientist K.J. Singh.

He had sourced the seed of this rare lily from Badlapur in Maharashtra.

"This is the first of its kind in North India and is currently only at AJC Bose Indian Botanical Garden in Howrah and a few gardens in south India. The flower will bloom only for 48 hours," he said.

"In this time when it is in bloom, the aquatic flower will turn from white to pink and has a very strong fragrance: one of a sweet pineapple. It has large floating round leaves that are 3 meters in diameter with a side rim size of 2 inches. These leaves are strong enough to support the weight of a small child," he added.

"Before this blooming, there had been more than 50 botched attempts. This time, it was closely watched and steps were taken to eliminate insects through insecticides that had previously prevented these plants from surviving," Singh said.