Come see N. St. Louis Marmorata. This is a waterlily that was unreleased to the trade by Mr. Pring. It was one of the crosses created in attempt to create a yellow hybrid lily. It is of major historical interest because it was a very early hybrid of Mr. Pring's. He did not like it because it was not yellow enough to suit his tastes. It is more of a cream color. He later came up with N. St. Louis. N. St. Louis is no longer found in the trade but was significant as the first yellow hybrid. It was a cross from N. burttii. N. burttii is the same flower that Ken used to create the first yellow star lily.

This hybrid has been around since the early 1930's at least. The original plant material was given to Ken Landon to keep as a caretaker for posterity. He has kept it alive and grew it out this year to show some genuine history to people who might be casual waterlily observers. In addition to the historical significance it is also a great plant from the perspective of a hybridizer. It is a very large flower in relation to the size of the pads. The pads are just a little larger than the flower which is huge. The pictures below illustrate a flower that was about 6 inches across in the few days I was able to observe it. It has pretty mottled pads as well.