Recientemente ha desaparecido del Jardín Botánico de Kew (Londres) uno de los pocos nenúfares enanos que existen en el mundo. Se trata del nenúfar "Nymphaea thermarum”, cuya flor apenas alcanza 1 cm de diámetro. En clase de Ciencias Naturales, los alumnos de la sección bilingüe de 1º ESO B han leído el artículo que relata el misterioso robo y posteriormente han diseñado un cartel para intentar localizar al nenúfar desaparecido. Otros alumnos, en lugar del póster, han inventado una historia para tratar de resolver el caso. ¡¡Próximamente se publicarán los mejores trabajos!!
THE
MYSTERIOUS THEFT OF THE MINIATURE WATER LILY
Monday
13 January 2014
AP Photo/ Royal Botanical Gardens Kew
The
water lily “Nymphaea
thermarum”
has been stolen from Kew Gardens, in London. Nowadays, the plant is
almost extinct in the wild, but it is cultivated in two places in the
world: one is the Kew
Gardens and the other one is in Germany.
The
stolen plant is one of the rarest in the world: it is the smallest
water lily that exists. It
is as small as a fingernail (1 cm in diameter)! The
flower is white with yellow stamen.
Fragile
habitat
The
plant has no official common name but it is known as the "pygmy
Rwandan water lily” because it was discovered in 1987 by a German
botanist at a hot spring in Rwanda. However,
it disappeared from there in 2008 because of the over-exploitation of
the hot spring that kept the plants moist and at a constant
temperature.
Before
the extinction, a number of living plants were taken by scientist
from Bonn Botanic Garden, in Germany, and from the Royal Botanic
Gardens in Kew, which succeeded in propagating the delicate plant in
2009. The “Nymphaea
thermarum”
grows in warm mud, at 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit). There
are more than 50 living water lilies at Kew and a small number in
Germany.
Nowadays, a few plants grow again in the wild in Rwanda, but the
“Nymphaea
thermarum” is
critically endangered.
Crime
against nature
The
plant is believed to have been stolen between 8.30 am and 2.55 pm
last Thursday, a Scotland Yard man said.
Other instances of theft have occurred, but they are isolated and
infrequent, Richard Barley, director of horticulture at Kew Gardens,
said.
Anyone
with information about the theft is asked to contact Scotland Yard on
020 8721 5934.
