THE NEW WATER LILY— VICTORIA REGIA. 



Some little conception of the grandeur of 

 proportions of this plant — ^just now the won- 

 der of the horticultural and botanical world — 

 may be gathered from the accompanying sketch 

 of the specimen at Chatsworth, — showing the 

 tank, and the general appearance of this 

 queen of aquatic plants. 



Of course, one never can get a perfect idea 

 of the magnificence of this plant in its native 

 localities, — the lakes and pools of tropical 

 South America, even when, as in this case, an 

 entire hot-house is built for its growth. But 

 still, it is a grand and beautiful siglit ; and 

 the size and proportions, so far as a single 

 plant goes, are as fine as in its native habi- 

 tat. 



The successful cultivation of the Victoria 

 regia may be taken as a proof of both the 

 skill and the luxury of the art of modern gar- 

 dening. An aquatic plant, which demands 

 the atmospheric temperature of the equator, 

 and at least twenty or thirty feet of space to 

 extend its leaves, which requires to be grown 

 in a pond of water, kept to the temperature 

 of 85^ Fahrenheit, and still more, to have this 

 water gently agitated, to imitate the move- 

 ment of a stream, would have been pronounced 

 beyond the limits of cultivation by most per- 

 sons. All this, however, joined to the ac- 

 counts of its grandeur and beauty, only stimu- 

 lated English amateurs ; and while we were 

 in England, we saw three fine specimens in 

 full perfection of growth and blossom ; one 

 at the National Garden, Kew, one at Chats- 



worth, the seat of the Duke op Devon- 

 shire, and the other at Syon House, the 

 seat of the Duke op Northumberland. 



There is something so gigantic about the 

 proportions of this water lily — its foliage from 

 four to six feet in diameter, and its flowers 

 proportionably large — that, as one looks at it, 

 one is more impressed by its grandeur than 

 its beauty, although the flowers are beautiful 

 in form and colour — pure white, tipped with 

 red. The leaves are, however, so bold in 

 structure, and the plant altogether conveys 

 such an idea of strength and vigor, that it 

 interests you as a new and gigantic race of 

 lions would — a startling proof of what nature 

 occasionally delights to do, as a specimen of 

 her prowess. 



"We are glad to learn that Caleb Cope, 

 Esq., the President of the Pennsylvania Hor- 

 ticultural Society, is about adding to his 

 range of conservatories, (containing one of 

 the finest private collections of exotics in the 

 United States,) a hot-house to grow the Vic- 

 toria ; so that by next August we may, per- 

 haps, have the satisfaction of seeing its superb 

 blossoms expand in this country. The mere 

 growth of the leaf, too, is interesting, since it 

 increases in size at the rate of an inch of 

 breadth per day, for a considerable time. It 

 seems probable to us, as our summers are 

 more tropical than those of England, that the 

 Victoria may be found more easy of culture 

 here than with our neighbors on the other 

 side of the Atlantic. 



