768 NtJPHAR. rCLASS XIII. ORDER 1. 



i. iV. luHeay Smith. (Fig. S7 6.) Common Yelloiu Water Lily. Calyx 

 of five pieces ; stigma entire, of from fourteen to twenty rays; leaves 

 ovate, cordate, their lobes approximate. 



English Flora, vol. iii. p. 15. — Hooker, British Flora, ed 4. vol. i. 

 p. 215. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 15. — Nymphaa lutea, Linn. — English 

 Botany, t. 159. 



Root of numerous fibres, running deep in the mud, from a stout 

 fleshy procumbent stem. Leaves large, of a leathery texture, flat, 

 quite smooth, a bright cheerful green above, pale and dull beneath, 

 roundish ovate, deeply heart-shaped at the base, with rounded lobes 

 mostly overlapping each other, the margin entire, and the numerous 

 veins radiate from the insertion of the footstalk, which is two edged, 

 flat above, rounded at the back. Floiver solitary, terminal, of a deep 

 golden yellow, cupped, and from two to three inches across, having a 

 peculiar smell of brandy. Calyx of five or six roundish wedge-shaped 

 concave leathery pieces, bright yellow on the inside, duller and some- 

 what green on the out, quite smooth. Petals numerous, small, oblong, 

 with a nectariferous furrow at the back, inserted into the receptacle. 

 Stamens numerous, inserted with the petals into the receptacle. Fila- 

 ments flat, recurved, with linear two celled anthers. Style very short. 

 Stigma orbicular, deeply umbilicated in the centre, with from fourteen 

 to twenty elevated rays, the margins entire. Berry large, superior, 

 ovate oblong, smooth, of a leathery texture, with as many cells as there 

 are rays to the stigma, many seeded, when ripe bursting irregularly. 



Habitat. — Lakes, pools, canals, and ditches; frequent. 



Perennial ; flowering in July. 



This is a much more common species than the White Water Lily, 

 and, like it, accommodates itself in the greater or less length of its 

 flower and leafstalks. The leaf is of a remarkable thick leathery tex- 

 ture, and floats upon the surface of the water, the upper surface being 

 quite dry ; if from any cause the footstalk is prevented from growing 

 and elevating the leaf to the surface of the water, it, instead of being 

 thick and leathery, is extremely thin, without any intercellular 

 substance, and of a pale green colour, and the margin folded. The 

 peculiar alcoholic odour of the flowers, and perhaps the flaggon-shaped 

 seed-vessel, as Hooker well observes, has led to the name of Brandy- 

 bottle, by which it is known in many parts of England. The fleshy 

 stems of this and other species are bitter and somewhat astringent, and 

 contains a considerable quantity of foeculent matter, which, after re- 

 peated washings, is capable of being used for food. The flowers of 

 this genus, as well as that of Nymphcea, are extremely interesting as 

 showing the transformation of petals into stamens. The transition 

 takes place so gradually, from the perfectly formed stamen, with a 

 narrow filament to the petaloid one, and the anther at the same time 

 so gradually diminishes in its size, that it is almost impossible to say 

 where the stamens commence, and where the petals terminate. 



