WATER LILY FAMILY 



NYMPH^ACE^ 



The Water Lily family may certainly claim to 

 be the most beautiful group of aquatic wild flow- 

 ers. All the members of this family are perennial 

 herbs which are especially characterized by long, 

 horizontal root-stocks living on or in water. The 

 flowers have three to five sepals and five to many 

 petals and stamens. The familiar Water Lilies 

 of our lakes and ponds are typical illustrations 

 of this interesting group. 



Water Lilies. It is not strange that the 

 glorious beauty of the Water Lily has long proved 

 a source of joy and inspiration to imaginative 

 peoples. In various species this flower is widely 

 distributed over the world, the Lotus of Egypt 

 and the Orient being one sort while the Victoria 

 Regia of the tropics is another. In our own 

 country the white and pink varieties, though 

 smaller than these exotic forms, are almost equally 

 beautiful and furnish a delightful decoration to 

 many a pond and pool. Opening during the 

 middle of the day they reflect from their spotless 

 and glowing petals the glory of the sunshine. 



If the leaves of one of the white Water Lilies 

 are purple on the under side it is the Sweet- 



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