OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 281 



where the soil is of a light sandy nature, its thick whitish head 

 may be frequently seen coming through the surface like large 

 heads of asparagus. With these few short notes on some of the 

 peculiar forms of vegetation in Northern Queensland, I will 

 now pass on to point out a few of her magnificent flowers. 

 Of aquatics we have some of the finest known. Take, for 

 instance, the grand Pythagorean Bean, Pink Water Lily as it 

 is called here, Nelnmbo nucifera, Gaertn., which, in ancient 

 days was so plentiful in Egyptian waters. What can equal 

 in beauty the lagoons where this plant is in full bloom ? 

 But I would draw special attention to the splendid white 

 flowering water-lily of the lagoons off the Barron River, Trinity 

 Bay. In growth and general appearance this superb aquatic 

 differs widely from all others of the colony, and this difference 

 may be noticed as far as the eye can reach. Its leaves, 

 instead of lying flat on the water, and floating wide over the 

 surface of the lagoon in which it is growing, often may be 

 seen standing up some little distance above the water, and 

 always in a close cluster immediately over the root, giving one 

 the idea of their having been blown in a heap by a high wind. 

 In size the leaf equals those of N. gigantea, Hook., but differs 

 from that species in the edges being much more sharply toothed, 

 the basal lobes ending in a sharp thorn often from \ to 1 inch 

 long, and in the vascular structure being much stronger. The 

 flowers are large, of a pure white, and beautifully double, and 

 also very fragrant. Some float on the surface of the water, but 

 the majority stand up like the Nelumbo. In removing the plants 

 from the lagoons I failed to find any trace of the thick rhizome 

 of N. gigantea, although I searched carefully for it at the time ; 

 but this with all my care may have been left behind. As 

 observed by the painstaking botanist of Victoria, Baron von 

 Mueller, to whose persevering research I must again say the 

 botanists of Australia are so deeply indebted, this and N. 

 gigantea, Hook., approach very near to A r . Lotus, and in this I 

 perfectly agree, and consider this white variety the nearest 

 approach. The most common blue water-lily of Northern 



