More then half the country’s waterlily species were raised by Dr. Slearmlarp Wasuwat, who is now turning his attention to the commercial possibilities of the lotus.

Story by
HEAMAKARN
SRICHARATCHANYA
Pictures by
SOMKID CHAIJITVANIT

Dr. Slearmlarp bought his first lot of foreign waterlilies—24 seedlings—in England in 1969 while on a trip there as an expert on rubber plants dispatched by the Ministry of Agriculture. He hand-picked and carried the seedlings onto the plane himself.

“It cost me a fortune,” the 72-year-old recalled. “A single seedling was priced at 50 pounds and at the time a pound was equivalent to 20 baht. So I paid 1,000 baht per seedling which was a lot of money 30 years ago.

It was his previous job as a horticulturist that convinced him to empty his wallet on those waterlilies. Decades before he and his mother had started a business selling flowers and plants. The following year, however, the government transferred him to post in the South because of his expertise with rubber trees. Worried about his mother would be unable to shoulder the burden of caring for all the plant alone, he handed the business over to a friend and started a new enterprise for her to run.

“I tried to think of plants which are easy to grow and don’t require much care. And the first species which occurred to me was the waterlilies.”

That was 33 years ago and he’s been passionate about these flowers ever since, purchasing new specimens aboard to add to his collection and for cross-breeding purposes. He currently trends about 210 different species of waterlily and lotus.

Growing non-indigenous plants is a risky proposition, he said, because they are not used to the hot climate in Thailand. Of the 200 or so foreign species he bought over the years, only 60 have flourished here. Imports that didn’t grow or bloom properly he threw away; only those that produced attractive flowers were allowed to remain in his garden.

Slearmlarp holds a PhD in plant pathology and genetics from the Wisconsin University and is currently president of the Thailand Waterlily Lovers Club, which was founded in 1999. Although now retired he’s been giving occasional lectures at Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Agriculture for the past few years. For him, breeding new species of flowers is neither a business nor a hobby; he does it for educational purposes and to satisfy his curiosity. “I’m always curios about how a new one will turn out,” he said.

Countless experiments he’s carried out over the past three decades have demonstrated that it’s simply impossible to predict results. “Breeding waterlilies of different hues isn’t remotely like mixing colours. You can’t get pink flowers by crossing red waterlilies with white ones because we’re talking about hybrids here. You simply can’t predict what cross-breeding will produce.”

To illustrate his point he recalled how he once crossed two types of white waterlilies and when the resulting hybrid bloomed the flowers were purple.

To obtain a flower of a certain colour, Dr. Slearmlarp explained that he must first select plant which produce blooms of the “wrong” colour. The reverse side of leaves can sometimes provide clues as to what colour of the flowers on that plant will be. If he wants red blooms, he looks for plants, the backs of whose leaves are dark green, brown or red. The others he culls.

He said waterlilies are perfect for cross-breeding purpose because each bloom has both male and female parts and so can be used either to “father” or to “mother” a hybrid. He normally selects four specimens of a plant for breeding: one of its pistil, the female reproductive organ, and three for the stamen, the male equivalent, to ensure that the pollen on at least one of the stamens will be mature enough for reproduction.

In order to breed a waterlily, he must know when it will come into flower. A few days before this date, he makes a slit in the as-yet-unopened flower, trims the stamen away and then covers it to prevent any inadvertent natural fertilisation. When the plant begin to blossom, he inserts the stamen from another waterlily in place of the original and then waits for fertilisation to take place.

A waterlily usually blooms for about three days before closing and immersing itself in water for about three weeks. When it rises from the water again, its seeds are ready for cultivation.

“If you’re lucky, the first attempt will provide hundreds of seeds,” he said. “But usually, I have to do it a few times to get it right.”

Hurdles to fertilisation include infertile “mother” plants and pollen that is too old for reproduction.

He plants the seeds insmall pots and as they grow keeps a sharp eye on them, weeding out the unsatisfactory ones.

Producing a successful new species requires two to three years of effort. “When a plant of my own creation greets the world for the first time, that’s when I exclaim, ‘Hoorey! We’ve got a new breed!’”

Dr. Slearmlarp then has to wait for about a year until the new plant has grown sufficiently to send up shoots. Two more years are then needed for fine-tuning the reproduction process before the new species is ready for sale.

Dr. Slearmlarp takes great pleasure in naming his “offspring”. To his first successful progeny, back in 1981, he gave his son’s nickname, “Ply”. His latest, Dao Thammanoon, was named after the soi he lives on—Soi Thammanoon.

The name of the new species plus a detailed description of its distinguishing features must then be registered with the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society (IWGS) in the United States.

In addition to bringing new species of waterlily in to existence, Dr. Slearmlarp also shares his wisdom with the public by putting it all down in the writing.

Two of his books have gained much recognition from his peers: How to Grow Waterlilies as a Flowering and Garden Plant was included in the “88 Best Science Books for the 1980s” compiled by the Thailand Research Fund. It was the first book published in the Kingdom on the topic of waterlilies. The second title, How to Grow Giant Waterlily (Victoria Waterlily), has also been widely praised. Printed in 1996, it explains the process of growing the Victoria waterlily through illustrations. Even though the captions are in Thai, foreigners can easily follow the instructions by looking at the pictures.

“I was very proud of that book because it earned me a Hall of Fame Award from the IWGS in 1998. That award is given out to people who contribute to water gardening on an international basis, and I’m the only person in Asia to have been given this recognition.”

Dr. Slearmlarp began expanding his area of expertise two years ago by taking up the study of lotuses. He plans to develop the lotus as a commercial crop.

“Seeing countries like Australia and New Zealand, which do not even have their own native lotus plants, planning to export [lotuses] to Asean countries drives me crazy,” he said.

“Our country has four beautiful domestic species of lotus: the Sattabongos [plump, pink, with multi-layered petals], the Sattabout [plump, white with multi-layered petals], the Poontarik [pointed, white with a single layer of petals] and the Patoom [pointed, red and single layered]. I think we should make the best of what we have.”

Every part of the lotus can be used in traditional herbal remedies, Dr. Slearmlarp said. The shoots are used to treat diarrhoea, the seed is said to be good for the heart, the petals can reduce fever, the stamen can be used as a diuretic, and the leaves have been known to cure certain skin diseases.

“I’m studying hard and hope to be able to develop the lotus on a commercial basis as soon as possible so that our country can earn some extra income from selling it aboard.”