MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 131 
clate, obtuse, 3 inches long, 1 inch wide, dark blue, externaiiy 
channeled iongitudinally with green, thick in texture except 
along the margins, 8-9-nerved, inner whorls blue; stamens 
180-190, outermost whorl 11% inches long, with yellow 
appendages ovate-oblong at the base, the linear portion blue, 
inner whorls shorter and narrower toward the innermost which 
is linear and blue at the apex; carpels 30-35, with styles 
oblong, obtuse, introrse; fruit globose, containing numerous 
fertile seeds; developed leaves peltate, orbicular, 14 inches 
across, deeply obtuse, sinuate, green on the upper surface, 
bulbiferous at the summit of the petiole, pinkish green 
beneath, sinuses overlapping, terminating in acuminate lobes; 
petioles terete, brownish green, 3-4 feet long. 
FLORAL COLOR STANDARDS FOR NYMPHAEAS 
The identification of the many hybrid nymphaeas by the 
present published color standards is extremely unsatisfactory 
and misleading. In some hybrids there are several shades 
within the petals, while in others the sepals are of a different 
shade from that of the petals. The life of the open flowers 
varies from three to five days, depending upon the month of 
flowering, and during this period there is a decided range in 
color between the first and last day. This is very striking in 
Nymphaea ‘‘Mrs. Edwards Whitaker’’ which is a pale campa- 
nula blue on the first day of opening and gradually bleaches to 
white on the last day. A comparison of the fresh and old 
flowers of the night-bloomers, especially the darker varieties, 
also shows considerable variation in color. 
The base color in the three distinct groups of stamens is 
identical, being a lemon-chrome, and the apieal portion of the 
anthers is tinted the same color as the petals. The dark- 
flowered night-bloomers usually have stamens of darker color, 
whereas the lighter-flowered varieties, such as N. Omarana, 
show lemon-chrome as the dominant color, the exterior basal 
portion of the outer whorls having the same coloration as the 
petals. The varieties growing in the Garden, comprised in 
the following list, have been standardized according to the 
charts in Ridgway’s ‘‘Color Standards and Nomenclature.’’ 
All flowers were judged on the first day of opening. 
