NYMPHIACE^E. I. NELUMBIUM. 



123 



lialf immersed in deep pits, in an elevated obconical torus 

 (f. 35. a.). 



1 NELU'MBIUM. Character the same as the tribe. 



TRIBE II. 



NYMPH;EE V JE (D. C. syst. 2. p. 43. prod. 1. p. 114.). Car- 

 pels many-seeded, inclosed within the torus, with the stigmas 

 radiating upon the top of the berry-formed fruit (f. 36. d.). 



2 EURY'ALE. Sepals petals and stamens adhering to the 

 torus, a great way up, and therefore the fruit appears half infe- 

 rior. 



3 BARCLA'YA. Sepals 5 distinct, absolutely hypogynous. 

 Corolla seated upon the top of the fruit, tubular above, corolla- 

 ceous, bearing the stamens on the inside of the tube, with the 

 throat 8-10-lobed. 



4 NYMPH^ V A. Sepals inserted at the base of the torus. Pe- 

 tals and stamens covering the torus, and adhering to it a 

 great way up, and therefore the fruit appears as if it were half- 

 inferior. 



5 NU'PHAR. Sepals petals and stamens inserted at the base of 

 the torus (f. 36. 6.), and therefore the berry appears as if it were 

 superior. 



Tribe I. 



NELUMBO' NEJi (a name applied to this tribe because it 

 contains Nelumbium, which see.) D. C. syst. 2. p. 43. prod. 



1. p. 1 13. Carpels many, distinct, and half immersed in the pro- 

 foundly honey-combed obconical, elevated torus (f. 35. a.), each 

 bearing a style (f. 35. e.}, with a solitary seed in each carpel (f. 

 35. b.), which is exarillate and destitute of albumen. 



I. XELU'MBIUM (latinized from Nelumbo, the Cingalese 

 name of N. speciosum.} Juss. gen. 68. D. C. syst. 2. p. 43. 

 prod. 1. p. 113. Nelumbo, Tour. inst. 261. Gaert. fruct. 1. 

 p. 73. t. 19. 



LIN. SYST. Polydndria, Polygynia. Character of the genus 

 the same as that of the tribe. Herbs emulating the habit of 

 Nymphce'a. Flowers large, shewy, white, red or yellow. Both 

 leaves and flowers rising above the surface of the water. 



1 N. SPBCK>SUM (Willd. spec. 



2. p. 1258. Var. a et /3.) corolla 

 polypetalous ; anthers drawn out 

 beyond the cells into a club-shaped 

 appendage. 11 . S. W. Native in 

 slow running streams and tranquil 

 waters in the warmer parts of Asia, 

 but formerly common in Egypt 

 (Herod, and Theop.), but now rare 

 (Delile), in Persia (Pers.), in Mala- 

 bar (Rheed.), in India (Burm.), in 

 Ceylon (Herm.), in Java (herb De- 

 less.), introduced into the Philippine 

 and Molucca islands (Rumph.), 

 Nipaul (herb. Lamb.), Cochinchina 

 and China (Lour.), about Siam 

 (Ksempf.), Japan (Thunb.). Sims, 

 bot. mag. t. 903. Lam. ill. t. 453. 

 Nymphae'a Nelumbo. Var. o. 



Lin spec. 730. Delil. fl. aegyp. descrip. p. 164. t. 61. Ne- 

 lumbo nucifera, Gaert. fruct. 1. p. 73.1.19. f. 2. Mirb. ann. 

 mus. 13. p. 465. t. 34. Nelumbium Asiaticum, Rich. ann. mus. 

 17. p. 249. t. 9. f. 49 to 57. Cyamus mysticus, Sal. ann. bot. 2. 

 p. 75. Cyamus Nelumbo, Smith, exot. bot. 1. p. 59. t. 31, 32. 



FIG. 35. 



Nelumbo Indica, Pers. Flowers very beautiful, smelling of 

 anise, commonly rose-coloured, seldom white (f. 35.). 



Far. ft, Tamara (Rheed. mal. 11. p. 59. t. 30.) outer stamens 

 sterile, dilated at the top, winged, obcordate ; appendage rising 

 from a notch at the apex. l/.S.W. Native of Malabar. Tamara 

 is the name of this plant in Malabar. 



Trunk of the root horizontal, fleshy, white, sending out many 

 fibres from the under surface. Petioles long, rising beyond 

 the surface of the water, scabrous with acute tubercles. Leaves 

 large, 1 or 2 feet in diameter, exactly peltate in the centre, 

 orbicular entire, glabrous, under surface palest, margins some- 

 what waved. Peduncles longer than the petioles, erect, sca- 

 brous. Flowers large, emulating Pceonia and Papiiver, white 

 or red. Fruit resembling an instrument once used in play 

 by the French, by the very antique name Lotos. (D. C.). It 

 was known to the Greeks, and is said by Herodotus, Theo- 

 phrastus, and others, to be a native of Egypt, but no modern 

 traveller has observed it in that country. There can, how- 

 ever, be no doubt of its having actually existed there, either 

 naturally or cultivated, since the terms in which it is described 

 by those authors are too clear and decisive to be mistaken, and 

 their accounts are confirmed by ancient Egyptian sculptures and 

 mosaics, which are still preserved, and testify that from the ear- 

 liest times it, as well as the proper Lotos, has obtained a religious 

 reverence. It is remarkable that neither Herodotus nor Theo- 

 phrastus, the most ancient writers by which it is described, have 

 attributed any sacred character to it, but speak of it as only used 

 as food by the Egyptians. Both root and seeds are esculent, sapid 

 and wholesome. They are accounted cooling and strengthening, 

 and to be of service in extreme thirst, diarrhoea, tenesmus, 

 vomiting, and too great internal heat. In China it is called Lien- 

 ivha, and the seeds, and slices of the hairy root, with the kernels 

 of apricots and walnuts, and alternate layers of ice were fre- 

 quently presented to the British Ambassador and his suite at 

 breakfasts given by some of the principal Mandarins. The roots 

 are laid up by the Chinese in salt and vinegar for the winter. 

 Sir George Staunton remarks that the leaf besides its common 

 uses, has, from its structure, growing entirely round the stalk, 

 the advantage of defending the flower and fruit arising from its 

 centre from contact with the water, which might injure them. 

 He also remarks that the stem never fails to ascend in the water 

 from whatever depth, unless in a case of sudden inundation, until 

 it attains the surface, when its leaf expands, rests upon it, and 

 often rises above it. Many varieties of the plant are distin- 

 guished by the Chinese; one of them with pure-white flowers, 

 and another having about an hundred petals white or rose-co- 

 loured. From the root of the Nelumbo Sir George Staunton 

 says the Egyptians are supposed to have prepared their Coloca- 

 sia, but as the plant is no longer to be found wild in that country, 

 from which circumstance some naturalists infer that it never was 

 indigenous there, but cultivated by the inhabitants with extreme 

 care. The ancient Romans made repeated efforts to raise it 

 among them from seeds brought out of Egypt. Dr. Patrick 

 Browne is of opinion that the ancients confounded two plants 

 under the name of Lotos or Egyptian-bean, and that under these 

 titles they described the upper parts of the Nelumbium and the 

 roots of Caladium Colocdsia, now commonly called Coccos in Ja- 

 maica. Thunberg says that it is considered as a sacred plant in 

 Japan, and pleasing to their deities, and that the images of their 

 idols were often drawn sitting on its large leaves. Loureiro re- 

 lates that it abounds in muddy marshes in India and China, and 

 is cultivated in large handsome pots in the gardens and houses of 

 the Mandarins. The Chinese have always held this plant in such 

 high value, that at length they regarded it as sacred. The seeds 

 are somewhat of the size and form of an acorn, and of a taste 

 more delicate than that of almonds. The ponds in India and 

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