50 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 
Lowesby ware, which was made about 1834 in 
Leicestershire, and painted in London with repre- 
sentations of the Lotus and exotic butterflies. The 
Egyptians made bread of the roots and seeds of 
their Lotus. The Victoria regia is another wonder- 
ful member of this group, with leaves six and a half 
feet in diameter, with an upturned rim like a tray, 
and splendid blooms fifteen inches across. 
The seeds of the Victoria regia, called Water 
Maize, are eaten in South America, where it is 
found. 
Many of the roots of members of this group yield, 
like the Arum lily, a sort of starch. The Water 
Bean, which is the origin of the fabled Lotus, is 
perhaps the Egyptian Bean of Pythagoras, and figures 
on many ancient monuments. The cornucopia or 
horn-like instruments of the ancients were supposed 
to be an imitation of the peculiar seed-vessels. 
According to Linnzus the flowers of the White 
Water Lily open at dawn and close at evening. 
The Water Lily group is characterised by the float- 
ing habit, peltate, cordate leaves, four to six sepals, 
which merge into the petals, which are numerous, 
and the latter can with difficulty be distinguished 
from the stamens, both of which grow upon a fleshy 
disc which surrounds the ovary (flask-like in shape) 
completely. The stigma, which is sessile, is rayed 
and peltate. The berry contains many seeds in 
its many-celled interior, each having a gelatinous 
aril. 
