CHAPTER VIII. 



CULTURE AND USES. 



The use of waterlilies for food and ornament among the ancient Egyp- 

 tians has already been referred to. This still continues to some extent in 

 Egypt, but, on the West Coast of Africa, Nymphaea seeds constitute an 

 important article of food. Travelers describe seeing the native women 

 and children coming in at evening to the villages laden with the ripening 

 fruits. These are laid in heaps until all of the soft parts decay. The 

 seeds are then easily washed out clean, and are dried and stored away. 

 They contain so much starch, oil, and proteid that they should form a very 

 nutritious diet. When dry the seed coat is brittle and the kernel slightly 

 shrunken, so that the two are easily separated. The kernels may be 

 ground into a kind of flour or may be boiled whole. The resting tubers, 

 in the dry season, are almost solid starch, and are eaten boiled or roasted 

 like potatoes. The species used in West Africa are N. caerulea and 

 lotus. In Madagascar, N. lotus and capensis are similarly used, and the 

 seeds of N. gigantea are eaten by the Australians. In Central America 

 also waterlily seeds are used for food. Victoria cruziana is known as 

 " water corn " (Mais del aqua) in Paraguay on account of its large farina- 

 ceous seeds. 



In the days of empirical medicine and the " doctrine of signatures" 

 the medicinal virtues of Nymphaea were highly overrated. Its leaves 

 were said to be antipyretic, and a decoction of the dried leaves and 

 rhizomes was supposed to be powerfully anaphrodisiac. Although it still 

 holds a place in the United States Dispensatory, and is mentioned by 

 Tavera (1901) in his medical botany of the Philippines, it is probably never 

 used. The whole plant is very astringent and bitter, on account of the 

 presence of tannin and gallic acid (cf. Griming, 1881 ; Niederstadt, 1883 ; 

 Fridolin, 1884). Whatever value it has is due to these constituents. 



But it is as ornamental plants that Nymphaeas have achieved their 

 present wide-spread fame, especially in Europe and North America. The 

 English colonies in India and Australia are also giving them considerable 

 attention, and a beautifully arranged pond has long been a feature of the 

 Botanic Garden of Buitenzorg in Java. Their culture began in the large 



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