THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



161 



most of our public parks, also by a large population ni 

 tbe wealthier class who own and maintain beautiful 

 grounds. A few enthusiastic amateurs who grew 

 atpiatics for pleasure and recreation have done much 

 i(ir the advancement of this now popular class of plant, 

 and it may safely be said that in no other country can 

 such aquatic gardening be seen at the present day as 

 in fhe United States. In England, where every known 

 \ariety finds a home, few, if any, growers ha\e \en- 

 tnrned to cultivate Xyiiiphaeas save in atjuatic houses, 

 hence it is very difficult to compare the same nr to 

 know the species by description of plants grown under 

 glass with less light anil solar heat, as gi\en. The 

 l)lants here are more vigorous, have more substance, 

 and the color of the flower and foliage is intensified. 



We are all familiar with the name water lilies, ilmugh 

 a misnomer, and we all know that Xymphacaea is nut 

 Liliacea: we might rather call them water mses. as 

 (lur friends do across the big pond. Any way we know 

 them as water lilies and when we hear that wnrd nur 

 minds at once carry us away back tci our childhcmd 

 years and places wliere the water lily grew, whether 

 in this or any other Cduntry. Ikit t(_i the general mind 

 it cnnveys the picture of a white flower, in all its purity, 

 as white lilies predominate in the temperate zone. 

 ( )ur Hastern fragrant pond lily, otherwise known at 

 Xyniphaea odorata, is white: the pond lilv of the mid- 

 dle and western states, X. tuberosa in numerous forms, 

 is also white. The haircjpean lily. X. alba. X. Candida, 

 is alsii white, as are also the Japanese species, .\. I'yg- 

 mea. These species are the progenitors of a host of 

 \arieties, embracing all shades of color, save blue : yet 

 including a most valuable color not mentioned befure, 

 that of yelldW. This color was intriMliiced tliniugh 

 the admition of X. flava, the Florida <ir southern s])e- 

 cies. This species is not perfectly hardy in the east- 

 ern or western states, but it plays a most important 

 part or place in the make-up of our magnificent collec- 

 ti(in of hardy water-lilies. 



It was this species that first attracted the great h\- 

 bridist, Latour Marliac, and by uniting or crossing the 

 two species, X. tuberosa and X. fla\-a, ])roduced that 

 magnificent variety, .\. marliacea cln^jmatella. riie 

 blood of X. flava is readil\- traced in all water-lilies 

 that have yellow, if finly faintly, in their make up; imt 

 (inly in their flower, bin the foliage tells tales; there is 

 the spotted or marbled foliage more or less in evidence. 

 Xext in color comes pink and the only known jiink 

 \ariety was Odorata rosea, but here the curtain re- 

 mains down. The dark colors did not come suddenK-, 

 and from my experience I find that color is intensified 

 in the crossing, the pollen parent con\'eying both color 

 and size. The only known species and the one that 

 lias played so much in this class is X. sphoerocarpa or 

 Alba rosea, the Swedish lily. The first hybrid that ap- 

 peared in the ])ink cidor was X. marliacea rosea, which 

 w;is in l.S(S7, parentage unknown, oidy to the hvbridist. 

 Xext was X. laydekeri rosea in 1892. — I may here 

 say in passing that the group known by the prefix Mar- 

 liacea are among the best of all Nymphaeas and will 

 ever stand alone, distinct in color, form and S3nimetry. 

 These are .\'. marliacea albida. carnea, chromatella, 

 rosea, flammea. ignea. rubra-])tmctata. — this was sen- 

 sational in color, form and Horiferousness. It resem- 

 bled X'. alba rosea in color. l)iit intensified, \arving in 

 color from a soft tender pink to id>,\ c.irniine and deep 

 carmine. This was indeed no\el. but the flower was 

 undersized and as larger flowers made their appear- 

 ance this almost vanished out of sight initil it is now 

 hardly ever seen. I know of but one section in thi> 

 country where it was a success — nortlieni .Vex'v ^'ork 

 State. ' 



Hut as new and larger llowers came rapidls into the 

 market, even at higher figures, this charming hybrid 

 became scarcer and scarcer and few of this group ever 

 existed. We have onlv I.avdekeri rosea, fulgens, pur- 

 purata and lilacea. These are excellent varieties for 

 tub culture and small basins. As a species I do not 

 know of a darker pink than X. alba rosea or Sphoertj- 

 carp;i, and less than three decades ago we had only a 

 few species of the hards water lilies, whereas at the 

 present time we have over one hundred varieties, the 

 [orogeny of these three cardinal colors, white, [jink and 

 yellow. It might be nice to include blue, but I am 

 thankful it is not hardy and belie\e it never will i)c. 

 Hut let us turn to the field of leniler Xymphaeas. yV 

 few species ha\e been known for a number of years; 

 .\. Rubra, the India species; X. Capensis, of South 

 America, and X. Coerulea, of Xortli ,\frica. and asso- 

 ciated with Egyptian history, and .\. Lotus. 



The India species are night blooming and it is well 

 the\ are. for they cannot endure our summer sunshine, 

 let alcjne that of India. 'Jlie first xariet}- we are fa- 

 miliar with is N. Devoniensis, named in honor of the 

 Duke of Devonshire, origin unknown, or (luestionablc, 

 but it is a form of X. Rubra: the latter s])ecies and X. 

 Lotus or deiitata arc the species from whence came our 

 selected group of night bloomers, embracing many of 

 the choicest water lilies now in cultisation. also the 

 largest flowers, these if not all are of .\merican origin. 

 The blue water lilies all hail from .\frica or nearby 

 places. The X. Zanzibariensis comes from Zanzibar, 

 and X. (ligantea from .Australia. The latter is very 

 difiicult to cultivate, but it can lie grown and I think 

 it surpasses every known blue water lilv in cultivation. 

 ( )f late another species has made its apjiearance or has 

 iieen brought into i)rominence, Alicrantha. This is, 

 entirely distinct, being of a \i\iparous nature — produc- 

 ing a distinct and separate jilant from the upper sur- 

 face of the leaf just over the insertion of the jietiole. 

 Another characteristic is its wcnidcrful floriferousness, 

 perpetual flowering and prodncing extra sized flowers 

 in the depth of winter, the color of which is not afTect- 

 ed b_y the short and dull days. 



In the early eighties an army dcjctor in Salem, N. C, 

 turned his attention to water lilies and succeeded in 

 growing se\eral ^■arieties and was tempted to try a 

 \ictoria Regia out of doors, and after a time succeeded 

 in ha\ing a jilant flower out of doors without artificial 

 heat. This, 1 believe, was the first on record. Amongst 

 his Xymphaeas, which were largely hardy kinds, ap- 

 peared a fine pink variety, a natural cross, not a hybrid, 

 Tliis l;itter was ])ut on the market as N. Odo Carol- 

 iniaiia. I regret this variety has disappeared, although 

 the name still exists. About the same time John J. 

 < lardiier, brother of Richard (Jardner, both enthusiasts, 

 both specialists, was gardener for Jerry Lorillard, at 

 Jobstown, .\. i. lie. too, grew some water lilies, and 

 about this time they were iiitro<liRH-d into Central Park, 

 X'^ew ^'ork L ity. and the jiarks ;it St. Louis, where the 

 veteran James (lurncy is still ;it the helm, who has 

 done so much for horticulture and has been a master- 

 liand at acptatics and where the finest s])ecimens of 

 A'ictorias are annually grown, none better, if as good. 

 I must mention right here in another o[)i)ositc section 

 of this vast country another doctor of medicine, Dr. 

 l-'aunce. of Yarmouth])ort, Mass., wdio is an amateur, 

 was a lo\er of horticulture and grew the newer up-to- 

 date water lilies as M. B. Latour-Marliac and put 

 them (Pii the market, for at this time these marvelous 

 jiroductions were arousing such an interest in England 

 and France and, consequently, America. At the same 

 time and in this same locality our lamented fellow- 

 wurker James Beydon resided, who was gardener to 



