NVMPH.^A FLAVA. AUDUBON S YELLOW WATER-LILY. I 23 



general appearance, the chief distinction being in the connection 

 of the seeds with the placenta, or material out of which the 

 seeds seem to grow. In the true NyiupJuca there is a fleshy 

 matter proceeding from the placenta between it and the seed, 

 called the arillus, which in NyinphcEa encloses the seed. In 

 NitpJiar this is wanting. There are other differing characters 

 in the pistil, the stamens, and the petals, but not greater than 

 we often find in the sub-divisions of other genera. 



Supposing the subject of our chapter to have been the same 

 species as Leitner saw, we may speak of it as re-discovered by 

 Mrs. Treat, and her account of the event is extremely interesting. 



" Li the valley l^y the river 

 In the bosom of the forest" 



she found herself ready for a journey up the St. John's, and she 

 says: "On my excursion in the row-boat I was attracted to the 

 nearest cove, where acres of the water were covered by a beau- 

 tiful variegated leaf of a strange water-lily, which bore a yellow 

 flower. I saw it was a Nyinpha:a, but its manner of growth and 

 its whole appearance were so unlike our white water-lily, that I 

 knew it must be a distinct species, of which no mention was 

 made in the Text-Books of Gray or Chapman." By the help of 

 Dr. Gray and Professor C. S. Sargent, it was identified with 

 Audubon's plate. Describing its growth, Mrs. Treat says : " The 

 beautiful leaves lie thick upon the water; and in May, when the 

 flowers appear, it is one of the grandest sights I ever beheld. It 

 growls in water from one to five feet deep, the length of the leaf 

 stems and flow^er scapes depending on the depth of the water. 

 How far it extends remains to be seen. I have traced it about 

 forty miles along the St. John's, and it grows all about Jackson- 

 ville, thirty-five miles below us. How it has so long escaped the 

 botanist is a mystery." 



But not only the lovers of nature in her popular aspects, and 

 as she may present them to us in forest or lake, have to thank 

 Mrs. Treat for this re-discovery of Audubon's " Golden Water- 



