THE MANCHESTER FLORA. 



PEEFECT, OR FLOWERING PLANTS. 



Class I.— EXOGENS. 



Section 1.— BISEXUAL EXOGENS. 



GKOUP I. — OVARY FREE AND ENCLOSED ; STAMENS ON THE RECEPTACLE. 



I.— THE WATER-LILY FAMILY. Nymphwdcem. 



Pond and river plants, with large, oval or heart-shaped, undivided 

 and leathery leaves, supported on petioles as many feet long as the 

 water is deep, and lying flat upon the surface. Flowers shewy, 

 regular, two to twelve inches across, white, yellow, rose-coloured, or 

 blue. Petals and stamens numerous ; ovary solitary, many-celled, 

 crowned with sessile stigmas, which correspond in number with the 

 cells, and radiate upon its summit in a star-like manner. 



Fig. 86. 

 Victoria regia, the largest known water-lily. 



The noblest and most beautiful of aquatics, vicing with the mag- 

 nolias and the night-blowing Cereus, and truly, as the Indians call 

 them, the " Delight of the Waters." They grow throughout the 

 northern hemisphere, wherever tempted by a clear lake or quiet 



