拯救世界上最小睡莲

　　The smallest water lily in the world, which had vanished from its only known hot springs location in Africa, was saved from extinction by experts at Kew Gardens, it was revealed today.

　　世界上最小的睡莲被克佑区公园拯救，据悉这种花只曾栖息在非洲的温泉里，曾一度濒临灭绝。

　　The tiny plant, whose lily pads can be as small as 1cm across, is known as the 'thermal water lily' because it was discovered growing in the muddy edges of a freshwater hot spring.

　　这种小植物的花瓣只有一厘米宽，因其生长在温泉的泥泞边缘而得名“热睡莲”。

　　The water lily was discovered in 1985 and was only known in one location in Rwanda, from where it disappeared around two years ago as water feeding the spring was extracted for agriculture.

　　睡莲在1985年被发现并仅存于卢旺达某地。两年前当这种植物赖以生存泉水被吸干用以农业灌溉时，它便随之消失了。  

　　After a series of trials attempting to propagate the species in different conditions, expert horticulturist Carlos Magdalena finally solved the mystery of how to make them grow - with the help of the original German description of their natural habitat.

　　在经过种种以不同条件用不同方式来繁殖样本的尝试之后，园艺学专家卡洛斯?玛格达雷娜借助德国人对水仙自然习性的原始描述最终解开了如何使睡莲繁衍成长的迷题。