102 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
also an acquisition. At the present time we have pure 
whites, dark yellows, and various pinks shading to dark red. 
Representatives of these may be seen in full flower in the 
first pond between the knolls. 
Nelumbium.—Nelumbium speciosum is a native of India 
and was held sacred by the Hindus. It was early introduced 
into Egypt and is erroneously taken for a native Egyptian 
plant. In Cary’s translation of Herodotus speaking of the 
Egyptians, it is recorded: “But to obtain food more easily, 
they have the following inventions: when the river is full, 
and has made the plains like a sea, great numbers of lilies, 
which the Egyptians call lotus, spring up in the water; 
these they gather and dry in the sun; then having pounded 
the middle of the lotus, which resembles a poppy, they make 
bread of it and bake it. The root also of the lotus is fit for 
food, and is tolerably sweet, and is round and of the size 
of an apple. There are also other lilies, like roses that grow 
in the river, the fruit of which is contained in a separate 
pod that springs up from the root, in form very like a wasp’s 
nest; in this there are many berries fit to be eaten, of the 
ene of an olive stone, and they are eaten both fresh and 
It is believed that the popular error that the Nelumbium 
was a native Egyptian plant arose from this statement of 
Herodotus. One of the most complete books dealing with 
this subject is the excellent volume by Professor Wm. H. 
Goodyear, entitled “The Grammar of the Lotus.” In 
this work it is pointed out that Nymphaea Lotus or N. 
coerulea, the former the white, the latter the blue lotus, both 
native Egyptian plants, are the types of lotus which figure. 
in the ornamental patterns of Egyptian monuments. He ~ 
states: “The ‘Rose Lotus’ may possibly be realistically repre- 
sented in ancient Egyptian paintings just as the Palm and 
many other plants appear, but such cases must be extremely 
rare, as none can be found in the great folio publications of 
Hevenen antiquities, or in the typical ornaments exhibited 
by Egyptian museums. As far as the typical ornaments or 
tescne atterns are concerned, the ‘Rose Lotus’ is not to 
ound.’ : 
Nelumbium luteum, the yellow-flowered species, is native 
to North America. The seeds are also edible and are com- 
monly called “water chinquapins,” especially in the southern 
states. The plant grows very. abundantly around the edges 
and shallow places of Creve Coeur Lake, St. Louis County. 
The peltate leaves fastened_reversely are frequently used by 
the ladies for sunbonnets. : 
