188 



THE WATERLILIES. 



spermis." If we accept the last two words as binding, the name cannot apply to any 

 species of the present genus Nymphaea, but rather to TV dumbo, as was understood by 

 Rafinesque (1830). It seems best, therefore, as Caspary already advised (1865), to 

 discard the name entirely. Gray was certainly wrong in applying it to N. tuberosa, 

 a species which does not exist in the region covered by Walter's Flora. In choosing 

 a name, therefore, we have discarded the suggestion of Mr. Nash, and accepted 

 the established and expressive name which the plant bears in gardens. Britton & 

 Brown (1897) are certainly right in pronouncing this plant distinct from N. tube- 

 rosa Paine, as is shown by the absence of tubers and the small size of the seeds. In 

 these respects, however, as well as in the great number of idioblasts in the petioles, and 

 the behavior in germination and thereafter, it is in agreement with N. odorata. An 

 interesting parallelism exists in the European TV. alba, of which gigantic varieties 

 occur in the warm and sunny climate of Greece. 



NUMBER OF FLORAL ORGANS. 



MEASUREMENTS. 



a = Young leaf. 



The flowers of this variety are visited by Halictux pectoralis ? , in Florida 

 (Robertson 1889). 



Caspary makes varieties of Nymphaea odorata based on the character of the 

 petiole, "I Glabra," "II Villosa," and "villossissima "; the first was based on the 

 collections of Pursh, probably our type and var. minor; the second rested on speci- 

 mens from Texas in several European herbaria, and may be nearly our var. gigantca; 

 the third was collected by Paine in Hidden Lake, Hcrkimer county, N. Y. The classi- 

 fication is of a very doubtful character, since the hairiness depends wholly upon the age 

 of the petiole, the hairs being always present in the young state, but always shed sooner 

 or later. 



