Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. X St. Louis, Mo., November 1922 No. 9 
NOCTURNAL HYBRID WATER-LILIES OF THE LATE 
JAMES GURNEY 
The late James Gurney, for many years head gardener 
emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden and superin- 
tendent of Tower Grove Park, devoted a great deal of time 
and energy to improving the varieties of night-blooming 
water-lilies. Up to the present time none of his new hybrids 
have been described or distributed with the exception of 
Nymphaea ‘‘Stella Gurney’’ (Pring, Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard., 
Vol. 4, p. 1) and N. ‘‘Frank Trelease.’’ In view of this fact 
the lilies now growing in Tower Grove Park have been eare- 
fully studied and the most notable hybrids described. Their 
parentage, in so far as possible, has been indicated by Mr. 
B. C. Berry, in charge of the collection, who was associated 
with Mr. Gurney during his lifetime. It is almost impossible 
to trace the parentage of these nocturnal hybrids, since the 
original stock comprised two separate species, N. Lotus and 
N. rubra. Mr. Gurney’s hybrids were all obtained by selec- 
tion, one pond having been set aside for new seedlings from 
which the more meritorious varieties were chosen. Naturally 
in such a pond a great range of varieties would result from 
the same seed pod, either from insect, wind, or other acci- 
dental pollination. 
x NYMPHAEA “B. C. BERRY” PRING 
This is a dark-flowered variety closely resembling its pis- 
tillate parent, Nymphaea ‘‘James Gurney, Jr.’’ The dis- 
tinguishing feature is its more robust habit in flowers and 
leaves. The flowers are amaranth purple becoming lghter 
towards the base of the sepals and petals, while the leaves are 
of a lighter color and the margins are more prominently 
toothed. 
(147) 
