THE WATER-LILIES OF EGYPT. 25 



products of their decomposition by means of special cells. These 

 species constitute the "carnivorous plants," of which about six hun- 

 dred are known. Drosera, Dionaa, and the "Pitcher plants" are 

 well-known examples. No plant obtains its entire supply of food in 

 this manner. In fact it is demonstrated that the carnivorous species 

 may exhibit normal development when deprived of animal food, 

 though it is of manifest advantage when furnished. 



By a third method the higher plant gains complex food-sub- 

 stances through the agency of fungi living on, or in the tissues of the 

 absorbing organs. Such an arrangement constitutes a "mycorhiza." 

 The number of species which have attained complete saprophytism 

 by this method is very large, and includes such forms as Monotropa 

 and Pterospera (Pine-Drops.) The attainment of more or less or- 

 ganic food-substance by means of mycorhizal arrangements is a widely 

 prevalent feature of plant-life and is exhibited by the Dandelion, 

 Crowfoot and nearly all of our forest trees. The tendency toward an 

 alliance with a fungus to form a mycorhiza is very strong, and is one 

 which leads to great instability, and in general to the development of 

 new forms within comparatively brief periods. The writer has re- 

 cently pointed out one instance of this fact in Aplectrum. 



University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Sept. 20, i8q8. 



THE WATER-LILIES OF EGYPT. 



WITH the kind permission of Mr. C. Schoeller, of Alexandria, 

 I send you a photograph, taken by himself, of the blue Star 

 Water-lily i^NymphcEa coerulea)^ of Savigny, and N. stellata, 

 of Willdenow, gathered a few weeks ago, in one of its 

 native haunts, the village of Kafr-Dawar, about eighteen miles from 

 Alexandria, on the main line of the railway to Cairo. I only wish 

 this excellent photograph could convey to you the exquisite shades of 

 blue and green in the petals, stalks and veined sepals of the beautiful 

 " Brides of the Nile," as the Arabs call the flowers of these famous 

 lilies. They are very fragrant in the open air, but in a closed room, 

 or held too close to the face, are apt to remind one of that pest of 

 our childhood, medicinal rhubarb. The leaves are large and heart- 

 shaped, and as a rule have distant teeth on their edges, though some- 

 times they are quite entire. The whole plant is called by the Arabs 

 "bishnin," and the tuberous roots, which are eaten like potatoes, 

 "biyaru." There are varieties of this plant in India with white, 

 rose-colored or purple flowers, but in Egypt they are always blue. 

 The only other wild Water-lily in Egypt is Nymphcea Lotus L. (the 



