AQUATIC PLANTS 139 



some great rose, the flower rises on a long stem from the 

 general mass, ^^ith seed-vessels borne later on that are 

 strangely like the spray of a watering-pot, whence the 

 botanical name, nelumbium. 



The lotus of the Nile, nelumbium speciosum (and 

 there is a yellow American species, luteum), is, of course, 

 a name to conjure \\ith in dealing with the ordinary read- 

 ing public, but the beauty of several of the hardy white 

 nymphseas, lying in picturesque clusters on the water, 

 form, to the author's mind, far more attractive objects 

 than the lotus on the pools and streams of the ordinary 

 la'^m. They seem always neat and finished in their de- 

 sign, and elegant and decorative beyond the capacity of 

 words to express. The way the perfect white flowers 

 are arranged on the shining clusters of green leaves, as 

 they float on the water, is a sight to see for one's self, 

 and not to read of in a book. There is a little white 

 lily, N. pygmea, about the size of a silver half-dollar, 

 that illustrates the truth of this statement with special 

 effectiveness. 



Unfortunately, there are only a few hardy kinds of 

 nymphseas, or water-lilies, chief among which are N. 

 odorata, the Cape Cod lily, and its varieties. There is a 

 large white lily, X. alba candidissima, which is much 

 used, and by the emplo3rment of a little shelter and heat, 

 in the form of a tank of warm w^ater, in even the smallest 

 greenhouse, other beautiful forms of water-lilies may be 

 secured for the ordinary la^^^l. Among the best kinds 

 of these half-hardy water-lilies may be mentioned nym- 

 phgea devoniensis, nymphsea zanzibarensis azurea and 

 rosea, nymphaea flava, and nymphaea sturteventii. 



The capacity of the pool for beautifying its surface 

 ^^^th aquatic plants does not end, by any means, with 



