 The Lily House was built specifically to house the giant "Victoria amazonica" waterlily which had only recently been discovered by European botanists; the first specimen to reach England was originally kept at Kew Gardens, but it did not do well.Paxton's reputation as a gardener was so high by that time that he was invited to take the lily to Chatsworth; it thrived under his care and in 1849 he caused a sensation in the horticultural world when he succeeded in producing the first "amazonica" flowers to be grown in England (his daughter Alice was drawn for the newspapers, standing on one of leaves).The lily and its house led directly to Paxton's design for the Crystal Palace and he later cited the huge ribbed floating leaves as a key inspiration.