The habitat of Nuphar lutea in Kermanshah province

Sarab-e Nilufar is located 22 km away from Kermanshah main road to Koozaran on the west side of Kermanshah city and is one of the most beautiful promenades in Kermanshah province, which is considered to be the fifty fifth natural relic of the National Heritage List in Iran. Its appellation was due to the existence of a beautiful yellow flower waterlily (Nuphar lutea) with massively formed of floating and immersion. This study was carried out based on conventional method of regional taxonomic studies with field visits during 2011-2016 in Kermanshah province. Due to the lack of rainfall, drilling unauthorized wells and the cultivation of hydrophilic plants around the spring, waterlily faced since 2011 some signs of drying of spring appeared and finally it was completely dried in 2015 and flowers of yellow waterlilyfaced serious damage. The reports and frequent visits to their habitats showed that they have been disappeared. In other words, since the year 1394 when the spring was dried and revived again, the plant did not re-appeared any more. So, based on the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), considering the extent of occurrence and the area of occupancy and the population size, the yellow waterlily is considered as critically endangered in Iran.