3^8 Dcfirlptlon of the Nymphaa Car idea. 



one with white and the other with azure flowers, ftlll orna- 

 ment, during the time of the intindation, the furface of the 

 canals and rivers, and in general of all the fields of Lower 

 Egypt, which are covered by the w aters of the river. Plants 

 fo finiilar were no doubt beheld by the Egyptians with equal 

 veneration ; and though Linnaeus, who was well acquainted 

 with the former, gave it the name of lotus, it is to be pre- 

 fumed that the fecond procured the fame advantages and 

 ferved for the fame myfteries. Its flowers have more fplen- 

 dour and a fweeter fmell, and the azure colour they exhibited 

 might become, among a people fo religious, the emblem of 

 the refidcnce of the deity on the waters. 



The vymphaa lotus is very well defcribed, and a good figure 

 is given of it, in feveral Svllems of Botany; but the cai'e is 

 not the fame with thofe the flowers of which are azure-co- 

 loured. It was fcarcely obferved by a few travellers, and if 

 mentioned, it was only in a vague and incorrect manner. 

 Forfkal, who travelled through Egypt in 1761, and who gave 

 a Flora of that country, did not obferve it. His filence in 

 ihis refpeft is the more aftonidiing, as the plant in queliion 

 and the nytnphaa lotus grow together and niually intermix 

 their leaves. It is not even indicated in the laft edition of 

 the Sjjicma Naturo', publiflied by Gmelin. This author, 

 however, colleftcd with great attention all the fcatiered fpe- 

 cics to be found in the diiferenl works which have hitherto 

 appeared *. 



It is therefore indifpcnfably neceflary that a name and 

 fpecific character (liould be afligned to this nymphaa ; it is 

 alfo neceflary that a correft defcription fliould be given of it: 

 this, in fonie mealure, will be enriching botany with anew 

 plant; and this, indeed, is the object which I propofe in the 

 prefent memoir. 



But as this fpecies has a great refemblance to the njmphtsa 

 lotus, and as it is poflible that they may have often been con- 

 founded, I have thought it will be of advantage to give a 

 comparative defcription of both. By thefe means the reader 

 will be better enabled to comprehend the chara6lers by which 

 ihey are diiliiiguiflicd, and which render it neceflary to form 

 of them two feparate fpecies. 



The root of the vympbera lotus, and that of the other fpe- 

 cies, which from tne colour of its flowers I have called the 

 azure nenuphar {njmphcea Cirruleu), confift of long, white, 

 pulpy nU'.ments, the upper extremities of which adhere to 

 round tubercles. In feveral provinces of Egypt thefe tuber- 



• W'ildenow in his S^rcies PLoUarun: does not fpcak of this nymphsen. 



cles. 



