WATER-LILY TRIBE 31 



" And in bays where matted foliage weaves 

 A shadowy arch on high, 

 Serene on broad and bronze-like leaves 

 The virgin lilies lie. 



" Fair fall those bonny flowers ! oh how 

 1 love their petals briglit ! 

 Smoother than Ariel's moonlit brow 

 The water-nymph's delight ! 



" Those milk-white cups with a golden core, 

 Like marble lamps that throw 

 So soft a light on the bordering shore, 

 And the waves that round them flow." 



The " waves " of the poet must be only tiny wavelets, however, for the 

 Water-lilies would not flourish where the river was rapid. The blossoms are 

 said by some botanists to close and sink beneath the surface in the evening 

 and night. They are certainly fully open only during day ; but their folded 

 flowers still gleam in white contrast with their leaves, like alabaster vases, on 

 the surface of the stream, long after it has begun to glisten beneath the sih'ei 

 rays of the moon. 



The large leaves of the Water-lilies evolve oxygen gas copioiisly, and the 

 flowers emit a slight odour. Some foreign species are far more powerfully 

 scented ; and Mr. Gardner, when in Brazil, saw two white Water-lilies on a 

 lake, one of which was deliciously fragrant, while the other had the scent of 

 coal-tar. 



The root-stocks of this plant are said by Fee to be better than oak-galls 

 for dyeing grey ; and they have also been employed with advantage in 

 tanning leather. These roots, which have a very bitter and astringent 

 flavour, are used both in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands to dye dark- 

 brown or chestnut colour ; and both root and leaf were formerly employed 

 in medicine. Kine refuse to eat the plant, but it is said to be readily 

 devoured by swine, which tear up the Water-lilies in the most destructive 

 manner, to get at the roots. This flower is sometimes called Water Rose ; 

 and well deserves the name given by the Hindoos to an Indian lily — the 

 Delight of the Waters. The French call it Le Nenuphar ; the Germans, Die 

 SceUume; and in Holland, where the Water-lily is plentiful, it is called 

 Plomper. The Water-lilies of India, and also of Africa and America, are 

 many of them of a rich rose colour, and others vary in all the shades of light 

 blue to white. The roots are chewed by singers in India, to clear the voice. 

 In Japan, where the White Water-lily is an emblem of pui-ity, artificial lilies, 

 cut out of Mhite paper, are carried at funerals on long poles before the 

 departed, and flowers are gathered from the stream and placed on the face. 

 The people of Greece and Turkey make a pleasant drink from the blossoms. 

 A variety of the common Water-lily is occasionally found with small flowers. 



2. Yellow Water-lily {Nuphar). 



\. Common Yellow Water-lily {N. lutea). — Stigma with 10 — 30 

 rays, which do not extend to the margin ; leaves cordate. Plant perennial. 

 Not nearly so beautiful as the white species, but far more common, is the 



