NYMPH;EACE>E WATER LILY FAMILY 



Castalia odorata, (Ait.) Woodville and Wood. 



White Water Lily, Water Cabbage, 



Pond Lily, Toad Lily. 



June-September Water Nymph, 



Castalia: Greek meaning a mythical fountain on Parnassus, 



sacred to Apollo and the muses. 

 Odorata: Latin for scented, in allusion to the sweet and 



heavy fragrance of the flowers. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: muddy bottoms of ponds. 



THE PLANT: from horizontal roots which are twined in the 

 mud, simple or with a few branches. 



THE LEAVES: floating; four inches to twelve inches wide; 

 without hairs on the upper surface, beneath crimson- 

 purple, with few or many short, soft hairs; deeply heart- 

 cleft at the base; on long, hairless, dark-coloured stems; 

 margins entire. 



THE FLOWERS: fragrant, opening early in the morning 

 and closing in the afternoon, large, cup-shaped; three inches 

 to six inches broad; single in the axils of the leaves; petals 

 numerous, in several series, passing gradually into the 

 stamens; anthers bright yellow, the outer stamens on 

 longer filaments, having broader anthers. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule, covered with the bases of the petals, 

 ripening under water. 



This is the large water lily, so familar to all, with 

 floating leaves supporting white cups that shield true- 

 golden stamens at their centre. "The flowers," Mrs. Owen 

 says, "reach a greater size than in the centre of the State; 



98 



