154 FLOWERS OF THE SEASON 



unappreciative pronounce odourless, in addition to 

 having unfortunately missed their fleeting charm of 

 fragrance. The leaves of the Scented Water Lily are 

 small, round, and daintily cleft to the centre, and are 

 never so abundant as to cover the surface of the water 

 with a matted carpet of vegetation. The stems of the 

 leaves are slender, and the eye delights in following 

 their graceful yellow spirals through the still, clear 

 water to the sandy ridges of the bottom. This quiet, 

 almost retiring, sister of the Lilies seems to prefer the 

 more remote waters where only the most ardent 

 votaries of nature will seek her. It may be that she 

 has been driven away from the haunts of civilisation 

 by the destructive eagerness of the thoughtless to 

 grasp and possess. 



