Rhodora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. 16. 
August, 1914. No. 188. 
NYMPHAEA VARIEGATA OR N. AMERICANA? 
M. L. FERNALD AND Hanorp Sr. Jonn. 
In 1902, Mr. G. S. Miller, Jr., pointed out that the northern Yellow 
Pond Lily, which had passed as Nuphar advena, var. variegatum (more 
recently as Nymphaea advena, var. variegata), differs from the plant 
of the southern Coastal Plain in several characters and is a distinct 
species of boreal range, Nymphaea variegata (Engelm.) G. S. Miller.! 
This species is separated from the southern N. advena, which has the 
leaves erect ("occasionally floating in deep water”), on subcylindric 
petioles, and with a broad sinus, by its floating leaves on “flattened” 
petioles, and with a closed or narrow sinus. In N. advena, further- 
more, the inner surface of the sepals is ordinarily suffused with green, 
in N. variegata ordinarily with reddish-purple; in N. advena the 
larger fruit is ordinarily green throughout, in N. variegata commonly 
suffused with red. 
Later, in their * North American Species of Nymphaea," ? Miller & 
Standley add other contrasting characters, as, for instance, the more 
constricted neck of the capsule and the slightly smaller seeds of the 
northern plant; and study of the available material of the plants has 
satisfied us that, although some of the statements of characters have 
been overdrawn and the name finally adopted by Miller & Standley 
for the northern plant has little to support it, the two plants them- 
selves are well marked species. Since others may have encountered 
the same difficulties that we have in making the specimens fully 
coincide with the published characters and in following the logic of 
! G. S. Miller, Jr., Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. xv. 13 (1902). 
? Miller & Standley, Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. xvi. pt. 3 (1912). 
