The American Botanist 



VOL. XXVII. AUGUST, 1921 No. 3. 



/ have a garden of prouder claims, 



Full of novelties, bright and rare, ' '"' 



Modern flowers with stately names 



Flaunt their wondrous beauty there; 

 Yet in threading its brilliant maze, 



Oft my heart, with a homesick thrill 

 Whispers, dreaming of early days, 



" Grandmother' s garden was fairer still." 



— Elizabeth Alters. 



THE VICTORIA WATER LILY 



By W11.1.ARD N. CivUTE. 



'T^ HE greatest of all water lilies, Victoria regia, has been so 

 ■^ frequently written about that the name at least is familiar 

 to nearly everybody, but the plant, itself, is still so rare in 

 cultivation as to present several unusual features, through 

 the kindness of the Secretary of the Royal Botanic Society of 

 London we are able to present as a frontispiece a photograph 

 of the underside of one of the great leaves taken from a plant 

 growing in the Society's garden. The following account is 

 from the Society's Quarterly Suinmary : 



"The Victoria regia in the gardens has done very well 

 this year. It has had nine to twelve leaves of six or seven feet 

 in diameter at one time and the plant has shown no signs of 

 the disease which sometimes spoils the leaves. 



"The opportunity was taken when the tank was getting 

 crowded, to cut and lift a leaf out intact and reverse it so as 

 to show the underside. The upper side of the leaf has often 



