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    • Figure 1. 

      The evolutionary position of water lilies. (a) Tree of green plant lineage. (b) Tree of angiosperms (flowering plants). (c) Tree of water lily order Nymphaeales. Phylogenetic relationships and timing of the nodes are based on previous phylogenomic research[9] and phylotranscriptomic research[10].

    • Figure 2. 

      The growing research publications on water lilies. The searches are based on PubMed from NCBI (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) on May 24, 2022. Count 1 shows the keywords '(nymphaea) OR (waterlily) OR (water lily) OR (euryale) OR (barclaya) OR (nuphar) OR (trithuria) OR (cabomba) OR (brasenia)', while count 2 shows the keywords 'nymphaea'.

    • Figure 3. 

      Schematic diagram showing that the phylogenomic analyses reveal accurate phylogeny of angiosperms. Tree A represents that Nymphaeales, but not Amborellales forms the earliest extant angiosperm branch. Tree B represents Amborellales as the earliest extant angiosperm branch. Tree C represents Amborellales and Nymphaeales are sister lineage as the co-first earliest extant angiosperm branch. The proportion data in the piechart are from our previously published article[9]. E: Eudicots, M: Monocots, Au: Austrobaileyales, Am: Amborellales, N: Nymphaeales.

    • Figure 4. 

      (a) Phenomics, (b) genomics, (c) metabolomics, and (d) transcriptomics, guided gene screening related to blue anthocyanin in the petal of N. colorata and the stomata development. The genomic and phenomic studies identified loss of genes associated with stomatal development in the lower abaxial side leaf of N. colorata. Genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic studies identified floral fragrance-related genes and pathways associated with blue anthocyanin synthesis.

    • Figure 5. 

      The life cycle and characteristics of Nymphaea water lily make it a suitable model plant. Genetic transformation through its flowers is available in water lilies, similar to that in Arabidopsis. The numerous seeds in one Nymphaea fruit pod provide a good opportunity for the construction of a mutant library. By laboratory culture of seeds or organs, water lily could be ideal for lab research. Batch culture of water lilies is relatively easy as shown in the illustration.

    • Figure 6. 

      Future roadmap of water lily research.