BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 159 



76 PI.ANTS FOR CAKI» POIVDS. 



By JOIfii^ IS. USSAKEJLl^Y. 



Tliofiivoriteiii my ])ondsis tlie water-purslane, tlie Ludwigia pahistris 

 of the botanists, aj)laut which abounds there, but which I have not seen 

 named in anyi)nbli^hedlistof i)lauts suitable for a carp pond. Of this 

 the carp tear up vast (juantities, which float about in larj;e masses, throw- 

 iiig' out roots and continuing its growth in the water. 



For i)lants to furnish food for the carp, procure some roots of the com- 

 mon water-lily {Nymphwa odorata), and the more common yellow pond- 

 lily {Nuphar adrcna), and any other water-plants accessible, except pond- 

 weed {Fotanwgcton), and water-shield [Brascna peJtata). These latter are 

 liable to take ])ossessi n of too large a portion of the pond, to the exclu- 

 sion of more desirable plants. Procure, also, the seeds of the Tusca- 

 rora rice {Zizania aquatica), the common reed of our tide-water marshes, 

 on which the reed-bird grows so fat. 



The American lotus {Nelumhiuvi luteum) is indigenous to our own 

 State, and I have it growing luxuriantly in one of my ponds. "There 

 is a strange grandeur and an exquisite beauty about this plant which 

 excite the admiration of all romantic lovers of flowers ; a sweet loveli- 

 ness about them which creates a desire to possess and cultivate some 

 of them. All water-lilies are lovely, but this one is gorgeous. The 

 flowers are a light canary color, often five inches in diameter, and ex- 

 quisitely' fragrant. The seed receptacle, like the flowers, standing out 

 of the water, is a flat, circular surface, and constitutes the base of an 

 inverted cone, which is perforated with holes for the accommodation of 

 the nuts. These are the water chinquepins." 



A person who has seen this jilant growing in its native waters in 

 southern New Jersey thus refers to it: "I have visited the Kew Gar- 

 dens near London and the great botanical grounds at Paris and Cologne, 

 and assert without hesitation that if all the flowers in the three were put 

 together, they would not equal, as a spectacle, the lily plantation in this 

 pond." No stinted praise, certainly, of our beautiful Nelumhium. Yet, 

 beautiful as it is, it does not compare in stately grandeur with its 

 congener, the Egyptian lotus. Its delicate rosy tints, on a ground of 

 pure white, changing daily, its graceful petals expanding more than 10 

 inches when fully blown, entitle it, I think, to the rank of queen of the 

 floral kingdom. Though a native of India, China, and Japan, being the 

 sacred bean of the Hindoos, and, in their estimation, jiossessed of cer- 

 tain wonderful mystic powers, it is perfectly hardy in our climate. Mr. 

 E. D. Sturtevant, of Bordentown, informs me that he has grown it in 

 the open air for the last six years with complete success, and that he 

 has furnished it, with other choice Hlies, to Prof. S. F. Baird for the 

 carp ponds at Washington, where it does well. Though not planted in 



