Taxonomy Nymphaea flavo-virens. 



137 



Geographic Distribution. South America, from 2 to 23 S. Guaniva, Porto 

 Rico, coll. Sintenis, No. 3662, det. Caspary, in hbb. Berlin, Kew, Munich. Guayaquil, 

 Peru; Province of Rio de Janeiro (between Sitio de Paulista and Sitio do Porier), 

 Brazil (Caspary 1878). 



Nymphaea flavo-virens Lehmann. (Plate VI; Fig. 54.) 



Leaves sub-orbicular, 30 to 45 cm. in diameter, narrowly peltate, deeply and 

 irregularly sinuate or nearly entire, plain green on both sides; angle of lobes rounded. 

 Flowers white, 10 to 15 cm. in diameter; sepals pure green, or with 2 or 3 scattered 

 short black lines near the margins ; petals 16 to 20, narrow, acuminate; stamens about 

 60, deep yellow ; outermost filaments short, broad, petaloid ; anthers with a yellowish- 

 white appendage. 



Nymphaea flavo-virens, Lehmann 1852 b, 1854, fid. specimens from the Hamburg Botanic Garden, 

 1864, in hb. Kew, and from hb. Lehmann in hb. Berlin. Hooker 1901, fid. original specimen 

 in hb. Kew, cult, in Kew Garden. 



N. gracilis Hort. Watson 1887? G. & F. 18946. Tricker 1897. Conard 1901 a. Not Zuccarini 1832 a. 



N. mexicana Hort, not Zuccarini 1832, fid. Hooker, 1. c. 



Description. Flowers 10 to 15 cm. in diameter, open from early morning to 5 

 or 6 p. m., sweet scented, resembling Convallaria majalis. Peduncle terete, slender, 

 glabrous, tapering upward, rising 20 to 30 cm. above water, with 6 small main air- 

 canals and 12 secondary ones, all with thick partitions between. Sepals 4, lanceolate, 

 tapering to an acute apex, 8.3 cm. long by 2 to 2.4 cm. wide, green and obscurely 

 nerved outside, sometimes with a few scattered short black lines ; inner surface white. 

 Petals 18 or 19, of firm texture, outermost opening nearly horizontally, about as long 

 as the sepals, narrowly lanceolate, acute, breadth : length = 1 : 5.6 to 6.1 (=1.27 cm. : 

 7.8 cm. ; and 1.4 cm. : 8.3 cm.). Outermost petal greenish-white outside, with 2 or 3 red- 

 dish lineolse. Inner petals smaller, pure white. Stamens about 60 (56 to 61), yellow; 

 outer ones longer, with short, broad, petaloid filaments, and appendages of medium 

 length, stout, light yellow in color. Carpels 12 to 15 ; styles short, stout, fleshy, orange- 

 yellow, becoming elongated and incurved in fruit. Fruit nearly globose, 2.2 cm. in 

 diameter by 2.87 cm. high, crowned by the small circle of styles (1.9 cm. in diameter 

 at base, outside measurement), and slightly depressed, basin-like stigmatic disc; axile 

 process broadly conical with rounded apex, about twice as wide as high. Cells of 

 berry oval, about 1.9 cm. high by 0.95 cm. wide radially. Seed nearly spherical, with 

 insignificant raphe, about 0.2 cm. in diameter. 



