22 NYMPII^EACE^E. (WATER-LILY FAMILY.) 



Leaves l-2 broad. Flower 5' -8' in diameter. TuberS farinaceous 

 Seeds also eatable. Embryo like that of Nymphaea on a large scale. Cotyle- 

 dons thick and fleshy, enclosing a plumule of 1 or 2 well-formed young leaves, 

 enclosed in a delicate stipule-like sheath. 



ORDER 7 CABOMBACEJE. (WATER-SHIELD FAMILY.) 



Aquatics, like Water-Lilies ; but the hypogynous sepals, petals, stamens (in 

 threes, persistent), and pistils much fewer (definite) in number, all distinct 

 and separate. Seeds very few. Really no more than a simple state of 

 Nympbaeaceffl : embraces Cabomba, of the Southern States, and the follow- 

 ing trenus. 



1. BRASENIA, Schreber. WATER-SHIELD. 



Sepals 3 or 4. Petals 3-4, linear, sessile. Stamens 12-18 : filaments fili 

 form: anthers innate. Pistils 4-18, forming little club-shaped indehiscent 

 pods. Seeds 1-2, pendulous on the dorsal suture! Embryo enclosed in a 

 peculiar bag, at the end of the albumen next the hilum. Rootstock creeping. 

 Leaves alternate, long-petioled, centrally peltate, oval, floating on the water. 

 Flowers axillary, small, dull-purple. (Name of uncertain origin.) 



1. B. peltata, Pursh. (Hydropcltis purpurea, Michx.) Ponds and 

 slow streama June - Aug. Stalks coated with clear jelly. Leaves entire, 

 2'-3 / across. (Also a native of Puget Sound, Japan, Australia, and Eastern 

 India!) 



ORDER 8. NYMPH^EACE^E. (WATER-LILY FAMILY.) 



Aquatic herbs, with round or peltate floating leaves, and solitary showy 

 flowers from a prostrate rootstock; the partly colored sepals and numerous 

 petals and stamens imbricated in several rows ; the numerous pistils combined 

 into a many-celled compound ovary. Embryo small, enclosed in a little bag 

 at the end of the albumen, next the hilum, with a distinct plumule, en- 

 closed by the 2 fleshy cotyledons. Sepals and petals persistent, hypogy- 

 nous or perigynous; the latter passing into stamens: anthers adnate, 

 opening inwards. Fruit a pod-like berry, ripening under water, crowned 

 with the radiate stigmas, 14-30-celled ; the many anatropous seeds at- 

 tached lo the sides and back of the cells. Rootstocks imitating the endo- 

 genous, structure (astringent, with some milky juice, often farinaceous). 



1. NYMPHJEA, Tourn. WATER-NYMPH. WATER-LILI. 



Sepals 4, green outside. Petals numerous, in many rows, the inner narrower 

 and gradually passing into stamens, imbricately inserted all over the surface of 

 the ovary. Stamens iuseried on the top of the receptacle, the outer with petal- 

 like filaments. Fruit depreased-gloi>olar, covered with the bases of the decayed 

 petals. Seeds enveloped by a sac-like aril. Flowers white rose-color, or bhie, 

 rery showy. (Dedicated by the Greeks to the Water-Nymphs.) 



