BOTANY. 337 



duced, I shall continue to maintain the opinion that I have ever held, 

 that insects have no concern or connection with the potato disease. 



VICTORIA REGIA, OR THE SOUTH AMERICAN WATER-LILY. 



Tins magnificent plant was discovered in one of the rivers of British 

 Guiana, in 1837. Various attempts to introduce it into Europe were 

 made by Sir Robert Schomburg, but all to no purpose, until the year 

 1849, when some seeds, sent to Sir J. W. Hooker, at the Royal Gar- 

 dens, at Kew, England, gave germs of active vitality. They were 

 immediately sent to Chatsworth, where, under the care of Sir Joseph 

 Paxton, the plants grew and flowered. The germs were planted in a 

 large tank, prepared especially for the purpose, in loam and fine sand. 

 The water was kept, by means of hot-water pipes, at a temperature of 

 75 to 90 F., and, in order to place the plant, as far as possible, under 

 the same conditions in which it exists naturally, a small water-wheel 

 was placed in the pond to produce gentle undulations, as in the Guiana 

 rivers. The leaves of the plant measure from five to six and a half feet 

 in diameter, the petioles being from eight to twelve feet in length. The 

 development of a leaf, on first rising to the surface of the water, pre- 

 sents a most curious sight, not easily described. Rolled into a body 

 of a brownish color, and covered with thorny spines, it might readily 

 be taken for some large species of sea-urchin. The under side of the 

 leaves, as well as the long stems by which the flowers and leaves seem 

 anchored in the water, are thickly covered with thorns, about three 

 quarters of an inch long. The colors of the lily are white and pink, 

 the outer rows of petals being white, and the inner a rich pink. The 

 entire flower is from nine inches to a foot in diameter ; it is of short 

 duration, opening only on two successive evenings ; but there is a con- 

 stant display of flowers throughout the season. The petals always 

 open early in the evening, and partially close about midnight. During 

 the daytime, therefore, the Victoria Regia is seldom seen in its fullest 

 splendor, unless when removed from the parent stem. 



If the development of the leaves presents such a singular appear- 

 ance, the successive movements or changes in the flower are not less 

 extraordinary, and are far more beautiful. The crimson bud, which, 

 for several days, has been seen rising, at last reaches the surface of the 

 water, and throws off its external investment in the evening, soon after 

 which the flower petals suddenly unfold, the expanded blossom, like a 

 mammoth magnolia, floating upon the surface of the water, decked in 

 virgin white, and exhaling a powerful and peculiar fragrance, which 

 has been compared to the mingled odors of the pineapple and the 

 melon. On the morning of the second day, another change is observed, 

 and the outer petals of the flower are found turned backward, or re- 

 flexed, leaving a central portion, of a conical shape, surrounded by a 

 range of petals, white on the outside, but red within. A slight tint of 

 pink is discernible through the interstices of these petals, w r hich 

 increases as the day advances. In the evening, about five o'clock, the 

 flower is seen to be again in active motion, preparatory to another pro- 

 duction. The white petals which were reflexed in the early part of the 



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