Nympheacee.| THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. 65 
particulars with Epimedium hexrandrum. I know not if the Himalayan Podophyllums 
possess any of the properties ascribed to the American species, but this could be easily 
grown. 
8. NYMPHEACES. 
This very natural order has been observed by botanists not to obey the general law of 
the same species of aquatic plants being found in the most distant regions, as each 
particular species appears to be confined to only a limited range of territory. India is 
certainly the head-quarters of this family, as species of all the genera, except of Nuphar, 
are found in it; as of Nelumbium, Euryale, Barclaya in Rangoon, and of Nymphaea, a 
greater number of species than in any other country. These all require elucidation 
from recent specimens. The order Nelwmbonee has been formed of Nelumbium, and 
its species; of these NV. speciosum, unless, as De Candolle suspects, that several species 
be confounded under one name, is certainly an exception to the Nympheacee being 
restricted to a limited sphere, as it is found from Java up to the mouths of the Volga, 
and in the intermediate countries, as in every part of India, within the Hills near Sa- 
bathoo, in Persia, and formerly in Egypt. Nothing can be more splendid than to see the 
sheets of water covered with the large poppy-like, rose-coloured flowers of this beautiful 
plant. Euryale ferox was found by Lord Valencia, now the Earl of Mountnorris, between 
Lucnow and the foot of the Hills, and by Dr. Roxburgh in the lakes of Tipperah and 
Chittagong, where it is probably indigenous, as it has a special Bengalee name. I 
have met with it in the jheels beyond Saharunpore, but it has no doubt been intro- 
duced there, as the names given it are synonimous with Southern Nymphaea and. purple 
Nelumbium. It is mentioned by Sir G. Staunton as occurring in the province of 
Kianang, and by the Chinese missionaries, it is said to have been introduced into China 
for 3,000 years. It may, however, be one of those plants which belong equally to 
China and India. The species of Nymphea are found in every part of India, from 8° 
to 32° of N. lat., and almost the same species in the most remote parts of the country, 
with the exception of the red varieties of NW. rubra; but a new species has been 
brought me from Cashmere. The other species are found both in the southern and 
northern hemispheres, in the former as far as 34° of S, latitude at the Cape and in 
Madagascar. To the north of the line they are found in every latitude up almost to the 
arctic circle, but the same species are not found to extend over a wide space of territory. 
The seeds of Nelumbium, Euryale, and of several species of Nymphea, being farina- 
ceous, are eaten by the natives of India, either in a raw state, or after having been 
roasted in heated sand. They are also prescribed by their physicians as diet in some 
diseases. The stalks both of the leaves and flowers dried, form one of the articles in 
their prescriptions of what they call cooling medicines. They are said also to be a 
little bitter, and may therefore be also useful as tonics. The rhizomata or creeping 
stems, commonly called roots, are also eaten as in China, either boiled or in their 
curries, as well as the little farinaceous tubers, which are found nestling among the 
K radicles, 
