N YM 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



NYM 



181 



the flower above the water; but after it is impregnated, the 

 seeds are ripened under water, and fall into the mud at 

 bottom to produce new plants. The peduncles are round, 

 succulent, and one-flowered ; flowers an inch and half in 

 diameter, having a vinous smell. Linneus informs us that 

 swine are fond both of the leaves and root of this plant; 

 but that horses, cattle, sheep, and goats, refuse it : he 

 asserts, that crickets are driven out of houses by the smoke 

 in burning it, and that both they and cockroaches are 

 destroyed by the roots rubbed or bruised with milk. Ray 

 observes, that the flowers smell like brandy; and Dr. Wither- 

 ing remarks, that an infusion of a pound of the fresh root 

 in a gallon of water, taken in the dose of a pint night and 

 morning, cured a leprous eruption of the arm. The Ger- 

 mans have a variety of names for this plant, such as die 

 Gelba Sceblume, Gelbe Seerose, Gelbe Plumpen, Gelbe Mum- 

 meln, &c.; the Dutch call it, Geele Plompen; the Danes, 

 Aaekandel, Soeblomster, and Haarrod; the Swedes, Nack- 

 blad; the Smolanders, Siollon; the French, le Nenuphar 

 Jaune; the Italians, Nenufaro Giallo, Ninfea Gialla; the 

 Spaniards, Nenuplvar Amarilla, Escudete; and the Portu- 

 guese, Nymphea Amarella, Goljiao. It is a native of most 

 parts of Europe, in slow rivers, pools, and ditches; flower- 

 ing in July and August. Kalm observed the same species 

 in Canada, with a flower hardly so large as the Caltha palus- 

 tris. The best method of propagating this and the next 

 species is, to procure some of their seed-vessels just as they 

 are ripe and ready to open, and to throw them into canals 

 or large ditches of standing water, where the seeds will sink 

 to the bottom, and the following spring the plants will 

 appear floating upon the surface of the water. When they 

 are once fixed to the place, they will multiply exceedingly, 

 so as to cover the whole surface of the water in a few years. 

 They may also be cultivated in large troughs or cisterns, 

 having earth at the bottom, and will flourish very well in 

 them, annually producing a great quantity of flowers. 



3. Nymphaea Alba; White Water Lily. Leaves cordate, 

 quite entire ; lobe imbricate, rounded : calix four-leaved ; 

 root tuberous, frequently the size of the human arm, creep- 

 ing far and wide, and deep in the mud. The whole plant 

 is larger in all its parts than the preceding. Flowers large, 

 being sometimes six inches in diameter, and double; petals 

 white, from sixteen to twenty or twenty-four in number, in 

 two or three rows, wider than the leaves of the calix, and 

 n-.ore ovate. According to Linnens, the flower raises itself 

 out of the water, and expands about seven o'clock in the 

 morning, and closes again, reposing upon the surface about 

 four in the evening. The roots have an astringent bitter 

 taste; they are used in Ireland, in the Highlands of Scotland, 

 in the islands of Jura, &c. to dye a dark brown or chesnut 

 colour. Swine are said to eat it; goats not to be fond of it; 

 cows and horses to refuse it. This plant is a native of most 

 parts of Europe, in slow streams, pools, and ditches, flow- 

 ering in July and August. Both it and the preceding are 

 called Watercan or Candock, and Watersocks, in some coun- 

 ties of England. The Germans call it die Weisse Sceblume, 

 or Serosc, &c.; the Dutch, Witte Plumpen, and Wateroos, 

 &c. ; the Danes, Ackande, Soeblomster, &c.; the Swedes, 

 Sjoblad; the French, le Nenuphar Blanc, Lis d'Etang; the 

 Italians Ninfea Bianca; the Spaniards Ninfea Blfinm; the 

 Portuguese, Nymphea Branca; and the Russians, Wodanoi 

 Lelei, &c. See the preceding species. 



4. Nymphsea Odorata; Sweet-smelling Water Lily. Leaves 

 cordate, entire, emarginate; lobes divaricating, with an ob- 

 tuse point; calix four-leaved. It flowers in July. This is 

 in all its parts smaller than the third species. The flowers 



have a sweet hawthorn-like scent. Native of North America 

 and the eastern parts of Siberia. 



5. Nympheea. Lotus; Egyptian Water Lily. Leaves cor- 

 date, toothed. This resembles our common white species 

 very much in the form of the flower and leaves, but the latter 

 are toothed about the edge. It is a natire of the hot parts 

 of the East Indies, Africa, and America. It is very common 

 in ponds, lakes, and rivers, in Jamaica; and grows in vast 

 quantities in the plains of Lower Egypt, near Cairo, while 

 those parts are under water. It flowers there about the mid- 

 dle, of September, and ripens seed towards the end of October. 

 The Arabians call it Ntiphar. The ancient Egyptians made 

 a bread of the seed of this plant dried and ground. 



6. Nymphaea Nalumbo; Peltated Water Lily. Leaves 

 peltate, entire all round; root horizontal, long, creeping, 

 consisting of joints linked together, ovate-oblong, white, 

 fleshy, esculent, tubular within; petioles erect, very straight, 

 round, hispid, or muricated, thicker below, attenuated above ; 

 peduncle the thickness of a finger below, attenuated above, 

 spongy, muricated, one-flowered ; flower as large as the palm 

 of the hand, or larger, purple. This plant is the connecting 

 link between the monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous 

 plants; for by the structure of the seed it appears to belong 

 to the latter, but in reality it ranks with the former, 

 for it constantly puts forth one leaf only in germination, and 

 does not produce a second until the first is entirely unfolded 

 above water: this, Goertner found to be the case with more 

 than fifty nu's which he received from Lerche. This plant 

 is a native of both the East and West Indies, China, Cochin- 

 china, Japan, Persia, and some parts of the Russian empire. 

 Brown says it is pretty common in the lagoons beyond the 

 ferry in Jamaica, but not in the deeper waters. Thunberg 

 informs us that it is considered as a sacred plant in Japan, 

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

 idols were often sen sitting on its large leaves. The long 

 stalks are eaten among other pot-herbs. It differs from the 

 Egyptian Lotus in having entire thin leaves, with the petiole 

 and peduncle rugged. Loureiro relates, that it abounds in 

 muddy marshes, and is cultivated in large handsome pots in 

 the gardens and houses of the mandarins; that there is a 

 variety with the flower of a pure white, and another with a 

 very beautiful luxuriant flower, having about one hundred 

 large petals, white or rose-coloured. 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 Llen-wha: and the seeds and 

 slices of the hairy root, with the kernels of apricots and 

 walnuts, and alternate layers of ice, were frequently pre- 

 sented to the British ambassador and his suite, at breakfasts 

 given by some of the principal mandarins. The Chinese 

 have always held this plant in such high value, that at 1< 

 they regarded it as sacred. That character, however, has 

 not limited it to merely ornamental purposes : for the roots 

 are not only served up in summer with ice, but they are also 

 laid up in salt and vinegar for the winter. The seeds are 

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

 more delicate than that of almonds. The ponds are gene- 

 rally covered with it, and exhibit a very beautiful appearance 

 when it is in flower; and the flowers are no less fragrant 

 than handsome. 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, growing from its centre, from any contact 

 with the water, which might injure them. He also observes, 

 that the stem never fails to ascend in the water, from what- 



