256 NYMPH^ACEiE. [part ii. 



leaves {g) are large and nearly round ; and the 

 main root, which is called a rhizoma, is thick 

 and fleshy, and is, indeed, an under-ground 

 stem. There are several kinds of Nymphsea, 

 the most remarkable of which is the Egyptian 

 Lotos {N. Lotos) ^ the flowers of which are white 

 tinged with pink ; and both the roots and seeds 

 of which are eaten. Euryale is a genus of 

 South American Water-lilies, generally with 

 small flowers, and large rough leaves ; and 

 Victoria regina^ also a native of South America, 

 is perhaps the most magnificent Water-lily in 

 the world ; the leaf, which is peltate and turned 

 up at the brim, being of a deep crimson on its 

 lower surface, is upwards of six feet in diameter; 

 and the flowers are more than a foot in dia- 

 meter, with a corolla of more than a hundred 

 large white petals tinged with pink. 



The genus Nuphar consists of only three or 

 four species, the most common of which is N. 

 lutea^ the common yellow Water-lily, a native of 

 Britain. The flower has a cup-shaped calyx 

 of five large yellow sepals, the tips of which 

 curve inwards. The petals are small, truncate, 

 and flat, with a small pore on the back of each ; 

 and the stamens, which are very numerous, have 

 broad petal-like filaments. They differ, how- 

 ever, very much in appearance from those of 

 the genus Nymphaea, and they are differently 



