Nymphaea is an important aquatic ornamental plant that plays an important role in aquatic ecological restoration, landscaping, horticultural health and other areas. Nymphaea is located at the base of angiosperms and has important research value for the systematic evolution of angiosperms; At the same time, Nymphaea is the oldest flowering plant group, and its morphological, reproductive biology, genetic function and other characteristics demonstrate the evolutionary characteristics and characteristics of flowering plants, which has important reference value for related research on ornamental horticultural plants. On the basis of a brief introduction to the classification of Nymphaea, the study systematically reviews the relevant research progress in phylogeny and phylogeny, molecular biology, embryology, physiology, biochemistry and reproduction, breeding of Nymphaea, and prospects the future research content of Nymphaea, in order to provide reference for subsequent research.