THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 85 



than twenty-four feet in circumference. In temperate regions 

 where the plant may be grown in warm pools, the leaves are 

 much smaller but even then may reach a diameter of three 

 or four feet. An interesting peculiarity about them is the fact 

 that the edges are turned up for several inches all around, the 

 leaves thus presenting the appearance of large shallow pans. 

 The turned-up edges serve a practical purpose and keep the 

 upper surface of the leaves from getting wet. 



Although old leaves are so frequently pictured quite cir- 

 cular, the first leaves are narrow and elongated ; the next are 

 heart-shaped like ordinary water lily leaves and only the older 

 ones are peltate with the petiole in the center. Even in the old 

 leaves a distinct line shows where the lobes of the leaves have 

 been joined. Leaves of this kind are strong enough to support 

 the weight of good-sized children. In their tropical home 

 the great leaves form an almost impassible barrier to naviga- 

 tion. Tropical birds are said to wander over them in large 

 com[)anies, searching for food. 



The flowers, in keeping with the size of the leaves, are 

 often more than four feet in circumference. Usually they are 

 somewhat smaller, but blossoms with a diameter of a foot are 

 common. The plant rarely flowers in the Temperate zone but 

 mav be induced to do so by keeping it at the proper tempera- 

 ture. It appears to have first flowered outside the tropics at 

 Philadelphia. The blossoms are like those of the common 

 water lily in shape. Outside they are a pure white, shading 

 to a pink within. 



The group to which Victoria regia belongs is not a large 

 one, but it contains a number of interesting plants. The 

 American lotus (Xcliinihiinii lutcuiu) has much in common 

 with its relative of the .\mazon. Like it the leaves are cir- 

 cular with the 1 cticle in the center and th- flowers are often 



