1 3 o 



THE WATERLILIES. 



MEASUREMENTS OF LEAVES (IN CM.). 



From a small tuber. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Australia and New Guinea. " Lakes and marshes 

 throughout tropical Australia" (Benth. & Mull. 1863). "At river mouths in S. 

 Australia," Schomburgk 1875. " Moreton Bay, Queensland ; Clarence River, N. S. 

 W.," Benth & Mull., 1. c. Papua, Mull. 1875. " New Guinea, coll. Zippel ; Endeavor 

 River, coll. Banks," Casp. 1865. Rockhampton, E. Australia, coll. A. Dietrich, in hb. 

 Berlin. King's Creek, Queensland, coll. Miiller, in hb. Munich. 



Type collected by Bidwill, No. 39, at Wide Bay, Queensland, in hbb. Kew, Berlin. 



Forma alba with white flowers. Benth. & Mull., 1. c. 

 Forma rosea with pink flowers. Benth. & Mull., 1. c. 



NOTES. Introduced into England in 1852, and fruited by Van Houtte (Ghent) 

 in 1855. Flowered in open air, in heated water, at Glasnevin (Dublin) in 1865. Fre- 

 quent in cultivation in America, flowering freely out of doors all summer. Tubers are 

 said to germinate better in deep water, i. e., about 60 cm. ; but this is not necessary if 

 good bottom heat is furnished. 



Var. violacea (Lehm.) new comb. (Plate I, Frontispiece.) 



Smaller than the type. Flower 12 to 15 cm. in diameter. Bud conical-ovoid, 

 acute. Sepals coriaceous, ovate to oblong, tapering above with nearly straight sides 

 to the obtuse apex ; outer surface dark green more or less densely marked with inter- 

 rupted heavier and lighter black lines; inner surface pale. Petals many, rich violet, 

 slightly shorter than the sepals ; outer ones larger, obovate oblong, tapering above. 

 Stamens very many, much shorter than the corolla ; appendage obsolete. Carpels 

 about 10. 



Leaves subovate, repaid, light green above, deep purple beneath ; petiole to apex 

 9 to II cm.; width 11.5 to 12.7 cm.; lobes 6.4 cm. long, obtuse; primary nerves 10 

 to 12; veins numerous, reticulate, prominent beneath, green. Sinus margins curved, 

 open at periphery. 



Rhizome cylindrical, the size of one's little finger. (Details mostly from Leh- 

 mann.) 



\ymfiliara violacea, Lehmann 18530, fid. original specimens coll. John Macgillivray, Oct. 10, 1848, 



Cape York, Voyage of the Rattlesnake, Botany, 410, in hb. Kew. 

 N. Banksii, Cunn., fid. original specimen, coll. A. Cunningham, June, 1819, Endeavor River, N. E. 



Australia, in hb. Kew. 



