254 HYDROPELTIDEtE.— NYMPH^ACE^. [part h. 



leaves are very large, and peltate, that is, with 

 the footstalk attached to the centre ; and 

 Jeffersonia diphylla is a little plant, without any- 

 stern but that which supports the flower. Both 

 are natives of America, where they are found 

 in moist shady places. 



ORDER VIII, HYDROPELTIDE^. 

 This order, which many botanists combine 

 w^ith the preceding one, also consists of only 

 two genera ; viz., Cabomba and Hydropeltis ; 

 and of these Cabomba aquatica is a stove aquatic, 

 and Hydropeltis purpurea is a hardy water plant, 

 with peltate leaves, and dull purple flowers. 



ORDER IX. NYMPH^ACE^.— THE WATER-LILY 

 TRIBE. 



The principal genera in this order are 

 Nymphaea, Euryale, Victoria, Nuphar, and 

 Nelumbium. The flowers of the common White 

 Water-lily {Nymphcea alba) consist of nume- 

 rous sepals, petals, and stamens, all of which 

 might be mistaken for petals, being principally 

 distinguished by their colour. The sepals, (a 

 Viijig. 110,) are green on the outside, but they 

 are white within, and of the same fleshy sub- 

 stance as the petals {h). The stamens (c) look 

 like narrow yellow petals; they are pointed, 



