Unusual Things Found Deep in the Forest

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The World's Largest Water Lily

The world's largest water lily is definitely something you should have on your radar. But in a bizarre turn of events, this water lily was actually hidden in plain sight for almost 200 years! When the lily pad was finally discovered at the historic Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, England, experts realized that it had actually been there much longer than they thought. That's because it had previously been misidentified as a Victoria Amazonica.

Biswarup Ganguly via Wikimedia Commons
Biswarup Ganguly via Wikimedia Commons

In reality, though, it was a Victoria boliviana - a new species that had yet to be discovered. After 177 years, the experts realized that they had been mistaken, and a new record was made.