i6o8 



A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



the seeds float to the surface where they separate and float but later sink 

 when decay of their arils liberates the entrapped air. There is a large peri- 

 sperm around the endosperm except in Nehtmhium where both are absent. 

 The yellow Water Lily, Niiphar, has smaller flowers, which smell of brandy. 

 The gynoecium is not enclosed by the receptacle and forms a globular 

 fruit which bursts to release the seeds. {Nelumbium fruit, see p. 1139.) 



The Victoria Water Lily [Victoria regia) (see Vol. I, Fig. 942) is a native 

 of Brazil and Guiana. Its floating leaves may measure as much as 6 ft. 

 across, and are sufficiently buoyant to support the weight of a child. In 

 spite of its great size the plant is cultivated as an annual. The Egyptian 

 Lotus [Nehimhium speciosum) (Fig. 1459) was regarded by the early Egyp- 



FlG. 1459. — Nelumbium speciosum. (After Baillou.) 



tians as sacred to Isis and is still venerated in many parts of the East (Fig. 

 1460). Many species of the genus Nymphaea (Figs. 1461 and 1462) are 

 grown in ponds and are extremely beautiful. As a result of hybridization 

 white, pink, yellow and red-flowered forms have been produced. A^. lotus, 

 N. Zanzibar efisis and others with blue flowers can only be grown in this 

 country in heated tanks. Nymphaea alba and Nitphar liifea occur wild in Britain. 

 The family is divided into two sub-families, Cabomboideae and 

 Nymphaeoideae. To the former belongs the genus Cabomba with six 

 species occurring in the warmer parts of America. The submerged leaves 



