16 NYMPH^JACE^E. Achtys. 



solitary, erect. Fruit pulpy, becoming dry, indehiscent, reniform, the rounded 

 dorsal portion subcartilaginous, the ventral side strongly concave, membranaceous, 

 with a fleshy central ridge. Seed erect, straight : embryo very small. A smooth 

 perennial herb, with radical trifoliolate leaves, the flowers crowded in a naked spike 

 terminating the scape. 



A second species in Japan closely resembles the following. 



1. A. triphylla, DC. Root creeping : leaf on petioles a foot long or more, soli- 

 tary from a scaly base, the leaflets broadly cuneate, 3 to 5 inches long, palrnately 

 nerved, the outer margin irregularly and coarsely sinuate : scape solitary, equalling the 

 leaf ; spike 2 to 3 inches long ; flowers small, white, fragrant : fruit 2 lines long. 

 Syst. ii. 35. Hook. Fl. i. 30, t. 12. 



Shady woods near Mendocino (Bolander) and northward to Vancouver Island. Sometimes 

 known as May-Apple. 



ORDER III. NYMPttffiIACE,!. 



Aquatic perennial herbs, with horizontal trunk-like rootstocks or sometimes 

 tubers, which have rather an endogenous than exogenous internal structure ; the 

 leaves peltate or deeply cordate and involute from both margins in the bud ; solitary 

 axillary perfect flowers on long peduncles ; ovules remarkable for being on the back 

 or sides of the carpels (instead of the ventral edge) ; embryo small at base of fleshy 

 albumen enclosed in a fleshy bag ! Stamens numerous. Comprises almost half as 

 many suborders as genera. 



The Water- Lilies, and their relatives, of few species and wide geographical dispersion, comprise 

 8 genera under three suborders. The Water-Shield is the type of the first, Water- Lilies of the 

 second, and the Nelumbium or Indian Lotus, the sole genus of the third (Nelumbonem), which 

 differs from the character of the rest in the great embryo without albumen, and the nut-like 

 carpels separately immersed in hollows of a top-shaped receptacle. To this belongs the Nelumbo 

 of Eastern America and the Indian Lotus or Sacred Bean of Asia. There are no true Water- Lilies 

 (Nymphcea) in North America west of the Mississippi region, but one Nuphar reaches California ; 

 where also the Water-Shield is a solitary representative of the first suborder, Cabombece. The two 

 genera are briefly contrasted thus : 



1. Brasenia. Pistils 4 to 18 in a cluster, pod-like, 1 - 2-seeded. Leaves on slender stems, 



entire, centrally peltate. 



2. Nuphar. Pistil many-celled, many-seeded, free. Leaves all from the rootstock, deeply 



cordate. 



1. BRASENIA, Schreber. WATER-SHIELD. 



Sepals and petals nearly alike, narrowly oblong, dull purple, hypogynous, each 3 

 or sometimes 4, persistent. Stamens 12 to 18, hypogynous: filaments slender: 

 anthers oblong-linear. Carpels 4 to 18, distinct, tipped with a linear and one-sided 

 large stigma, ripening into a kind of indehiscent 1 - 2-seeded pods. A single 

 species. 



1. B. peltata, Pursh. Leaves floating (2 to 4 inches long), elliptical and cen- 

 trally peltate on the slender petioles, which are alternate on the filiform ascend- 

 ing stems, bright green above, reddish-brown beneath : flower small, half an inch 

 long. Gray, Gen. 111. t. 39. 



In Clear Lake (Bolander) and Pit Kiver (Brewer) ; thence to Puget Sound. Known at few 

 Pacific stations, while from Canada to Texas it abounds, extending to Cuba. It also occurs in 

 Japan, Eastern India, Australia, and at one known station in tropical Western Africa ! The 

 stems and stalks are coated with a clear jelly. The "tuberous" rootstocks are collected by the 

 Californian Indians for food. 



