



!7o The Waterlilies. 



Geographic Distribution. Eastern Europe, Asia and North America, south to 

 Australia. Russia (Baikal region), Georgi 1775. Khasia Hills, and marshes at Non- 

 kreem, alt. 5,600 ft., India, Hook. & Thorn. 1855, fid. specimens coll. Hooker, Duthie, 

 Stewart, etc. N. Queensland, Australia, Midler 1887? Siberia, Gmelin 1769. Com- 

 mon in China and Japan, fid. numerous specimens. Granite Station, Kootenai County, 

 Idaho, U. S. A., coll. Leiberg, Heller and the writer. Misinaibi River and along Sev- 

 ern River, Canada (Ontario), Macoun 1891. 



Notes. Caspary (1865), from whom the measurements in the text were mostly 

 taken, divides the species thus: 



I. Lata: Sepals and petals shorter and broader, outermost petals slightly exceed- 

 ing the sepals ; depth of sinus less than half the length of the leaf. Leaves not spotted. 

 Pollen smaller. Found in eastern and northern Asia. 



II. Angusta: Sepals and petals longer and narrower; depth of sinus equal to or 

 exceeding half the length of the leaf; pollen larger. This varies into (1) orientalis, 

 outermost petals a little shorter than the sepals ; lobes of leaves long-produced, rarely 

 acuminate ; leaves not spotted. China and Japan. (2) indica, outermost petals slightly 

 exceeding the sepals; lobes of leaves long-produced, tapering and acuminate; leaves 

 usually brown-spotted above. Northern India (Nonkreem). Georgi's specimens are 

 of the broader sepaled type. Those with narrower petals and sepals may deserve varietal 

 rank as var. angusta Casp. 



The American plant, from its small number of stamens and their insertion below 

 the summit of the torus, may deserve the rank of a variety. 



N. tetragona was introduced into England from China in 1805 by the East India 

 Company, in the ship " Winchelsea," Capt. Campbell. It is hardy in our climate. 

 Being of small size it is suitable for aquaria. 



The seeds are used for food in Japan, and the leaf buds are also eaten, dressed 

 with vinegar (Rein 1886). 



Nymphaea acutiloba, DC. 1821, is of uncertain identity, but as it came from 

 China it is probably N. tetragona Georgi. 



Nymphaea fennica Mela. 



Flower cup-shaped, small, 3.8 to 6.9 cm. across, white or rosy ; receptacle large, 

 square, sloping upward, with a keel running from the peduncle to each corner; sepals 

 forming a sharp angle at their line of insertion. Petiole with 2 main air-canals. 



Nymphaea fennica, Mela 1897, fid. specimens coll. A. J. Mela, in hb. Univ. of Penna. G. C. 1899. 



Description (taken from Mela's paper). Flower cup-shaped, small. Bud short 

 ovate, square at base, constricted just above the base, then rounded and rapidly drawn 

 in to the acute apex. Receptacle characteristic, very broad ; breadth of receptacle : 

 length of sepals = 6 mm.: 14 mm. (small flower) ; = 9 mm. : 19 mm. (medium) ; = 12 

 mm. :25 mm. (large flower). Looking at the receptacle with the apex of the bud 

 turned away, the surface slopes gently, roof-like, from the top of the peduncle, with a 

 low, narrow keel running to each angle. Edges of receptacle not projecting downward 

 as in N. Candida, but plane beneath, making a sharp angle on the side. In fruit the 

 receptacle is a little wider than the berry and calyx, these being completely hidden 



