104 GLASS-HOUSES 



case to Samoa, whence in 1848 Mr. G. Pritchard distributed 

 specimens to the Friendly and 'Fiji Islands in the Pacific 

 (which were then stricken with famine), and with most success- 

 ful result, since this dwarf Banana never fails to ripen its 

 fruit. M. Wilsoni is also grown. 



Along the margin of the water the Water Hyacinth, 

 Eichhornia speciosa (Pontederia crassipes] from Guiana grows 

 like a weed. It bore its pretty blue spikes of blossoms in 

 1898, and either it or another species has done so on many 

 occasions since. It is distinguished by the swelling leaf-stalk, 

 which, filled with air, gives the plant great buoyancy. 



The vivid tints of the Water-lilies in the tank will next 

 attract attention indeed, from the month of June onwards 

 they are the feature of the house. In Dr. Daubeny's time 

 the Oxford Garden was noted for the excellence of its Water- 

 lilies, and for the early successes of Mr. Baxter. The good 

 reputation is being ably maintained by Mr. Baker, who is an 

 acknowledged expert in their cultivation, and the author of 

 the article thereon, in the " Book of Gardening." Several of 

 the illustrations in that volume have been prepared from 

 plants grown in our Garden. 



The Egyptian Lotus, Nymphaea lotus, is a plant of much 

 historical interest, the blossoms and buds of which figured 

 much on the painted monuments of that country, and which 

 probably suggested the form of the capitals on the columns 

 of certain orders of Egyptian architecture. 



In 1853 the collection of Water-lilies included Nymphaea 

 stellata (coerulea) from Egypt, a very beautiful plant 

 with large blue petals ; N. cyanea and rubra (red), from 

 the East Indies ; dentata (white), from Sierra Leone : devoni- 

 ensis* a free-flowering hybrid, raised at Chats worth from 

 rubra and dentata ; odorata minor, a small fragrant species 

 from N. America ; micrantha from the river Gambia ; and 

 pygmaea, the smallest of the species known to us, a hardy 

 species from China. The hybrid N- daubenyana x (= N 



