THALAMIFLOE^, 435 



Examples of the Genera : — Victoria, Nymphsea. There are about 

 50 species. 



Properties and Uses. — The plants of this order have bitter 

 and astringent properties. They have been also generally con- 

 sidered to be sedative and narcotic ; but there does not appear 

 to be any foundation for such an opinion. Many contain a 

 large quantity of starch both in their rhizomes and seeds ; hence, 

 such parts constitute a favourite food in some countries. The 

 plants are chiefly remarkable for their large showy flowers, and 

 for the gradual transition which their parts exhibit from the 

 sepals to the petals and stamens. The most remarkable plant 

 of the order is the 



Victoria regia. — TMs is a native of Equatorial America, and has been in- 

 troduced into this country, where it has excited much interest, both from the 

 beauty and size of its flowers, and from its enormous singularly constructed 

 leaves. The flowers when fully expanded are more than a foot in diameter ; 

 and the leaves, which are turned up at their margins, vary from four to 

 eight feet in diameter. The plant is commonly known in this country 

 as the Victoria Water-lily, and in South America under the name of Water- 

 maize, as the seeds are there used for food, for which purpose they are com- 

 monly roasted with Maize or Indian Corn. 



Natural Order 11. Nelumbiace^. — The Water-Bean Order. 

 — Character. — Aquatic herbs. Leaves peltate, rising above 

 the water. Flowers large and showy. Sepals 4 or 5. Petals 

 numerous, in several whorls. Stamens numerous, in several 

 whorls ; filaments petaloid. Thalamus very large, flattened at 

 the top, and excavated so as to present a number of hollows, 

 each of which contains a single carpel {fig. 640). Fruit con- 

 sisting of the ripened nut-like carpels, which are half buried in 

 the cavities of the thalamus. Seeds solitary, or rarely 2 ; with- 

 out albumen ; embryo large, enclosed in a membrane, with two 

 fleshy cotyledons, and a much-developed plumule. 



I>iagnosis. — Aquatic herbs with peltate leaves. Thalamus 

 very large, flattened at the top, and excavated so as to present 

 a number of hollows. Carpels distinct, and partially imbedded 

 in the large honey-combed thalamus. Fruit of numerous 1 or 

 2-seeded, nut-like bodies. Albumen none; plumule very large. 



Distribution, cfr. — These beautiful water plants are natives of 

 stagnant or quiet waters of temperate and tropical regions in the 

 northern hemisphere ; they are most abundant in the East In- 

 dies. There is but 1 genus Ndumbiura, which includes 3 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Chiefly remarkable for their large 

 beautiful flowers and leaves. The nut-like fruits of all the spe- 

 cies are edible, as well as their rhizomes, which contain starch 

 like those of the Nymphaeas. The most interesting plant is the 



Nelumbium speciosum. — The fruit of this plant is commonly considered to 

 have been the Egyptian Bean of Pythagoras ; and the flower the Lotus so 

 often represented on the monuments of Egypt and India. The plant, however, 

 is no longer found iu Egypt, but it is common in India. The leaves and flower- 

 stalks contain a large number of spiral vessels, which, when extracted, are 

 FF 2 



