30 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



stem divides into a thick leaf-stalk and a slender 

 flower-stalk. The leaves are thin, stiff, drooping, 

 and heart-shaped ; they are green above, and 

 whitish green beneath. They are entire, but the 

 borders are set with slender prickles. The flowers 

 are attached to a slightly branching panicle, and 

 at the base of each fork is a small oval leaf-scale. 

 They have 4 sepals, petals, and stamens. The 

 petals are oval, obtuse, concave, and blood-red ; 

 the exterior of the flower is yellow. The flowers 

 appear in April and May. 



Order III. NympJiceacece (2 genera) 



In the Water-lilies the calyx is composed of from 

 4 to 6 sepals. The corolla has numerous petals, 

 gradually passing into the stamens, which, as well 

 as the carpels, are also numerous. The plants 

 are rooted at the bottom of the water ; the broad 

 leaves float on the surface, and the buds, when 

 fully developed, also rise and expand on the 

 surface. Three species only, one white and two 

 yellow, are found in Britain, and are not un- 



common in ponds and backwaters in most parts 

 of our islands. Many of the tropical species are 

 blue or red, some of them, as the South American 

 Victoria regia, attaining a very large size, the leaves 

 being 3 or 4 feet in diameter. 



White Water-lily — Nymphaea alba 



(Plate VII) 



The White Water-lily, with its snow-white flowers 

 with a yellow centre, is the largest and most 

 beautiful of our water-flowers, flowering in June 

 and July, and often measuring four inches in 

 diameter, and the leaves twice as much. It 

 varies, however, considerably in size. The leaves 

 float on the surface of the water, and the flowers, 

 which are scentless, expand in the morning and 

 close in the evening. The sepals are white above 

 and green below. The inner petals are smaller 

 than the outer ones. The stigmas are yellow, and 

 the outer ones are broader below than the inner, 

 and are, like the petals and carpels, attached to 

 a disk called the receptacle. The carpels form a 



