150 



The Waterlilies. 



Notes. On comparing Mr. Baum's specimens with the originals of N. guineensis 

 Schumacher & Thonning, kindly sent to me at Berlin by the directors of the Museum 

 of Copenhagen, Professor Gilg fully agreed that his former identification of the two 

 was mistaken. Whether the Baum specimens should have specific rank must remain 

 at present a matter of opinion ; they are the most divergent forms yet known of a 

 series of African waterlilies leading by slight gradations up to N. caerulea Sav. No 



one could doubt that the two extremes 

 are specifically distinct. The Mechow 

 specimen, No. 480 cited above, differs 

 from Baum's No. 655 in having larger 

 flowers (5 cm. in diameter), sepals 1.7 

 to 2.8 cm. long, stamens two-thirds as 

 long as the petals, leaves 3.8 to 4.5 cm. 

 across, with big blotches of brown 

 above ; length of principal area : length 

 of radius = 2:3. Pogge's No. 559 has 

 the flower like Baum's 655, the leaf 

 2 cm. across, blotched brown above, 

 dull dark green beneath. Schwein- 

 furth's No. 2329 has blotched leaves 

 5 cm. across, flower 5 cm. in diameter, 

 stamens 25, a little more than half as 

 long as the petals. Pogge's 558 has 

 leaves 5.7 to 7.6 cm. across, and sepal 

 3.2 cm. long (poor specimen). Next 

 to this come Planchon's types of N. 

 heudelotii. On the other hand, JV. 

 micrantha Guill. & Perr. seems to dif- 

 fer from JV. heudelotii Planch, chiefly 

 in being viviparous. 



Nymphaea ovalifolia new sp. (Fig. 58.) 



Leaf narrowly elliptic, 25 cm. 

 long by 14.7 cm. wide, with large 

 irregular brown blotches above ; sinus 

 10 cm. deep, sides nearly parallel, lobes 

 acute, pelta 0.3 cm. wide. Primary 

 veins about 6; principal area 2.5 cm. 

 wide by 5.7 cm. long. Under surface 

 plain green. 



Flowers deep blue ("himmelblau "), closed in dull weather. Sepals and petals 

 acuminate, without dark spots; sepal 4 cm. long by 1.3 cm. wide. 



Distribution and Types. Coll. C. Bohm, No. 92, March, 1882, Deutsche Expe- 

 dition nach Ost-Afrika, in the Wala River, Ugally, in hb. Berlin. With this may be 

 classed a specimen, coll. F. Stuhlmann, No. 481, July 27, 1890, Expedition Emin Pasha, 

 at Palla Bay, marked " N. stellata var. alba," in hb. Berlin. 



Fio. 58. Nymphaea ovalifolia : leaf and flower. Under 

 side of leaf on right, showing veins. Upper side of leaf on 

 left, with blotches shaded In on lower half ; folded over at 

 margin. One-half natural size. From a tracing of the 

 original specimen of lltihin. in hb. Berlin. 



