AMERICAN LOTUS 



hopeful place to look for it is in the lowlands and 

 swamps that border the Great Lakes. The roots and 

 seeds of the plant are farinaceous and edible, and it 

 was early known that the Indians cultivated it in the 

 waters of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and 

 that it was abundant in the tributaries of the Missis- 

 sippi. Professor Gray originally reported the plant 

 from Sandusky Bay and eastward along the southern 

 shore of Lake Erie, and it occurs locally here and there 

 in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Indians are 

 believed to have disseminated it. 



The plant possesses an especial interest, because 

 it is one of the two species of Nelumbo in existence. 

 The other is the Pink Lotus of Asia, Nelumbo Nelumbo, 

 now extensively cultivated in parks and gardens. 



The leaves of this bold impressive plant are usually 

 raised two to four feet above the surface of the water, 

 are circular in shape, one to two feet across, and 

 more or less depressed in the centre over the attach- 

 ment of the petiole. 



The flowers are reported pale sulphur-yellow; per- 

 sonally I have found them cream-yellow. They are 

 four to ten inches across, with obtuse, obovate, concave 

 petals and suggest a Water-Lily. The plant seems to 

 be hardy throughout the Northern States and is now 

 very generally planted in park ponds and water 

 gardens. 



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