616 



AMERICAN FURESTRV 



IK- 



Christine Whiting say, in 

 their "Wild Flowers," that 

 this yellow pond lily is "a 

 Mower of i)riniitive type ; 

 the coml)ination of yellow 

 and red in the star design 

 of the jjistil is suggestive 

 of Egyptian color and de- 

 sign." (P. 36.) Mathews 

 notes that "On the tirst 

 opening of the flower there 

 IS a triangular orifice over 

 tlie stigma, so small that 

 an entering insect must 

 touch the stigma. On the 

 toUowing day the flower 

 ex])ands fully and the an- 

 thers beneath the stigma 

 unfold, spread outward, 

 and expose their i)o]ien. 

 Cross-fertilization is thus 

 msured and is generally 

 effected by means of the 

 bees of the genus Halictus, 

 and the beetle named l)u- 

 iKiriii piscatrix, as has 

 uecii announced by i'rofes- 

 sor Robertson. 



Our Water Lily family 

 {Nyiiipluicaccac) contains 

 besides the ^'ellow Pond Lily Just 

 descrilied a numljer of other very 

 beautiful or very interesting aquatic 

 plants. None of these are better 

 known or more generally admired 

 than the connnon Water Lily or 

 Water Nymph, of which fine exam- 

 ples are here shown in one of the 

 accompanying cuts. Three otlier 

 genera make up the grou]), insofar 

 as our United States flora is con- 

 cerned. These are the Water Cliin- 

 (juapin {Ncliiuibo lulca), also called 

 the ^'ello\v N'elumbo; the Water 

 .Shield {Uni.u'iiid schrcihci), and 

 finally the (abomba (C. caroliiii- 

 aiui). a jioiid plant found from 

 southern Illinois to I'lorida aiifl 

 Texas. 



No species of all these can com 

 pare with the White Water Lily. .\s 

 elsewhere pointed out, this superb 

 aquatic species, with its great, while 

 Mowers, has almost a cosmopolitan 

 range in the temperate belt of tlu' 

 Northern Hemisphere. Many gor- 

 geous varieties have been bred from 

 it, and these, from white to the dark- 

 er shades, run through many yel- 

 lows and reds of everv conceivable 



VIEW IN THE MARSH NEAR SOMER.SET. MARVI.AN'D 

 IS wllere ynu fiinl the Cat-tails and Broad-leaved Arrow-head growing 



in the greatest luxuriance .Many aqiiatie ferns and other water plants 

 are profusely mingled with them, wliile the trees beyond mark the limita- 

 tions of the swampy area 



tint. Some of their forms, 

 too, are extremely unique, 

 and many fetch high jirices 

 in the flower markets of 

 the world. 



After all ih said, how- 

 ever, none of these fancy 

 varieties — they are all very 

 unstable varieties — appeal 

 to us like the pure white 

 common one of our lakes 

 and pond s. "To my 

 mind," says Reed, "it leads 

 all other flowers in l)eauty, 

 grace, purity and fra- 

 grance. It is composed of 

 four sepals, greenish on 

 the outside and whitish 

 within, and numerous pure, 

 waxy-white petals. They 

 sometimes are gigantic in 

 size, often spreading five 

 or six inches across." 



Neltje Blanchan, too, 

 breaks forth in raptures 

 when she begins to write 

 about this very same 

 White Water I^ily of our 

 ponds — thus : "Sumptuous 

 queen of our native aquatic 

 plants of the royal family to which 

 the gigantic Victoria rcgiti of Bra- 

 zil belongs, and all the lovely rose, 

 lavender, blue, and golden exotic 

 water lilies in the fountains of our 

 city parks, to her man, beast and in- 

 sect pay grateful homage. In Egypt, 

 China, India, jajian, Persia and 

 Asiatic Russia, lunv many millions 

 liaxe bent their heads in adoration 

 III her relative, the sacred lotus! 

 from its center Brahma came forth : 

 Buddha, too, whose symbol is the 

 lotus, first appeared floating on the 

 mystic flower (Nrluiiiho iiiclimiho, 

 formerly NcUiinbiuin spcciositni)." 



White lilies in nature close up all 

 night, and o])en a short time after 

 su.irise, when they load the air with 

 their delicious fragrance; again 

 llie\- close up from noon on till even- 

 lide. 



Lor many years a controversy 

 has been indulged in, often at a 

 lively rate, among botanists, as to 

 the correct interpretation of the 

 metamorphosis of the stamens and 



AN ANOMALY IN A MARSH PLANT 

 As a rare coincidence, we sometimes meet wit! 

 ilonhle cat-tails. Here is one that was collected ii 

 Washington during the sunnner of 1915. Twr 



beautiful Mon,areh butterllies arc resting upon sCCmS tO be a mOOted qUCStioil CVCU 

 tnt'sc pistillate tirjwtT-lieads. Note now thnrniiglily ^ ^ 



their niarkiiiRs agree; there is no (h) 

 their lieing of the same species {Anosia 



petals of this white Hly, and it still 

 seems to be a mooted question even 

 ..uht ai.out '^it this late day. Some claim that 



plcxippits). -^ 



