scientific name - Victoria amazonica
Once upon a time, on the banks of the sumptuous Amazon, the young and beautiful women of a native tribe used to get together for singing and dreaming of their love dreams. So, they stayed for hours amazed by the beauty of the white moon and mystery of the stars, wishing that one day they were one of these stars. While the night fragrance embellished those dreams, an intense moonlight glimmered on the waters, leading Naia, the youngest and dreamier of all those girls to climb a high tree to try to touch the moon. She was not successful. The day after, she and her friends climbed the distant mountains in an attempt to feel on her own hands the smooth and soft moon, but they failed again. When they got there, the moon was so high that they all returned to the village, disappointed. They believed that if they could touch the moon, or even the stars, they could become a star. The following night, Naia left the village expecting to make her dreams true. And there, immense, bright, the moon rested quietly, reflecting its image on the surface of the water. Naia, in her innocence, thought that the moon had come to bathe in the river and allow being touched. Naia threw herself in the deep waters, disappearing forever. The moon, feeling sorry for that young life now lost, transformed Naia into a giant flower – the Victoria Regia – with overwhelming perfume and petals that open in the waters to receive moonlight on its surface.
