ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Botanical Garden has the strongest water lily among several national and international botanical gardens as it was named the winner in a recent contest.

In August, the Denver Botanical Gardens began a viral social media contest, “Water Lily Weigh-Off,” which challenged botanical gardens around the world to see how much weight their Victoria water lily pads could hold, according to a press release.

Missouri Botanical Garden horticulturists Claire Krofft and Greta Berg worked to measure the largest lily pad and see how much weight it could hold on Aug. 29.

They found a lily pad that measured 5 feet across and held more than 142 pounds of weight. 

On Tuesday, the Denver Botanic Gardens declared the Missouri Botanical Garden the winner. Other participants were New York Botanical Garden, Kew Botanical Garden in London, Chicago Botanical Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden and many others. 

The lily pads of Victoria water lilies can grow up to 10 feet across in the wild, according to the press release. The Missouri Botanical Garden has had Victoria water lilies since 1894.

Thanks to a generous donation in 2019, the Garden can heat its water lily pools in front of the Climatron, which allow lilies to grow larger than they have in the past, the press release states.

Visitors can see the water lilies through the end of September.