Nelumbium. poLYANDRrA polyoynia. 649 



most beautiful, uhite, sli<,ditly incurved, pearl-coloured 

 club. Receptacle sub-conical, I'rom the apex from ten 

 to thirty cells. Germs one in each cell of the receptacle, 

 attached at the base, oblong, one-celled ; ovula single, 

 attached to a swelling at the top of the cell. Stijle scarcely 

 any. Stigmas fleshy, sub-infundibulifonn. Seeds gener- 

 ally as many as there were germs, oval, reniforni. Inte- 

 guments two ; the exterior one spongy and spreading into 

 lamina. Perisperm none. Embryo inverse. Cotyledons 

 (vitellus),o( Gaertner two, equal, white, united at the apex 

 to the corol, and in some degree to each otiier round that 

 organ. Plumula of two unequal sub-opposite, long-peti- 

 oled, orbicular, peltate leaves ; between them and the apex 

 or point of union with the cotyledons is a short column, 

 which as in Anneslea, I will call tlie peduncle. When 

 vegetation begins, this, as well as the leaves of the plu- 

 mula, and their folded petioles swell and lengthen and 

 soon force a passage through the base of the seed, &c. as 

 very accurately represented by Geertner, l./>. 73.4. t. IJ). 

 By the time the two leaves of the plumula are expand- 

 ed, the proper roots begin to appear, issuing from the base 

 of their petioles, where they unite with the peduncle. 



In China there is a still more beautiful bright crimson 

 variety, which they call Hung-lin, I have hitherto only 

 seen a drawing of it. 



The white Nelumbium differs in few respects from the 

 red one, and may be considered as only a variety of it. The 

 difl^erence is as follows. 1st. In the white one the flowers 

 are milk-white, in the red one rose-coloured. 2nd. In the 

 white one the number of germs (consequently seeds) are 

 from eight to twenty, in the red one from ten to thirty. 

 The seeds of both come equally well to maturity and are 

 equally fertile. 



The tender shoots of the roots between the joints of 

 both sorts are eaten by the natives, either simply boiled 

 or in their curries. The seeds are eaten raw, roasted or 



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