7o8 



NYMPH^EA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



NYMPH^A. 



kept under, but in larger sheets of water 

 they often do harm, gnawing the buds 

 before they open, and even carrying them 

 off to build their nests. Green-fly also 

 appears upon the leaves and flowers above 

 water, and grubs of various kinds attack 

 them, but spraying with a weak solution 

 of quassia will generally clear the emer- 

 gent leaves and flowers, while a few drops 

 of a mixture of three parts of colza to 

 one of paraffin, will spread over the water 

 and check the foe. 



Nymphcea alba. The White Water-lily, 

 found in many parts of our country and 

 throughout Europe to Siberia. The flowers, 

 of 4 to 6 inches across, float upon the water 

 amid rounded leaves of bright green, very 

 variable as to size, and reddish while young. 



N. a/i>ava.r. candidissima. A large-flowered 

 form sometimes called the Hampton Court 

 Lily. Its white flowers are broader in petal, 

 coming early and continuing late, and thrust 

 well above the water. Its growth is strong, 

 needing ample space. Leaves of yellow-green 

 while young, the leaf-lobes much curved and 

 overlapping. At certain times and in certain 

 soils, the sepals are flushed with rose-colour. 



N. alba var. delicata has flowers flushed with 

 pale rose. N. alba maxima large flowers. 

 N. alba minor, a small-flowered variety with 

 blooms of great purity, and prettily incurved. 

 N. alba var. plenissima, a form with large, 

 nearly double flowers. N. alba var. rubra is 

 a scarce plant, best known as the Swedish 

 Water-lily, and classed as a form of alba, 

 though distinct in its smaller leaves of different 

 shape, slightly rolled inwards at the edges, 

 olive-green above and dull reddish below. The 

 flowers are smaller, fuller, and more refined, 

 with broader and blunter petals. It blooms 

 early but soon goes to rest. With so short, a 

 season it spreads slowly, is averse to removal, 

 and also to hot weather. The flowers vary 

 from pale pink to a deep magenta, deepening 

 towards the centre of the flower and from day 

 to day. Seeds freely, but the seedlings mostly 

 revert, only the tiny slow-growing plants 

 coming true. Syns., N. Casparv and N. 

 sphcerocarpa. 



N. Froebeli. An improved form of the 

 Swedish Water-lily raised at Zurich, and of 

 deeper colour and stronger growth. Of good 

 size and fragrant, its flowers are of deep crim- 

 son with orange stamens, coming freely to the 

 end of September. It is one of the finest dark 

 kinds, thriving in exposed open water, and 

 effective in the distance. 



N. Andreana. Bears cup-shaped flowers 

 of brick-red colour shaded with orange, and 

 held well above the water. The leaves are 

 blotched with chestnut-brown, their lobes 

 overlapping, and with such long stalks that 

 they float out far apart. The flowers come so 

 freely that a score or more are sometimes open 

 together on one strong plant. 



N. Arc-en-ciel. A distinct hybrid with 



blending shades of pale salmon streaked with 

 rose, and crimson spotted sepals. The leaves 

 are variegated in white, rose, and shades of 

 green and bronze. 



N. Arethusa. A plant of strong growth and 

 very free, coming near Laydekeri fulgens in its 

 bright crimson colour, but larger in flower and 

 more robust. 



N. atropitrpurea. One of the darkest of all, 

 with very large flowers of deep port-wine 

 colour, with pale yellow stamens and petals 

 incurved at the tips. Of good growth, free, 

 with dark leaves shaded with red on their 

 under surface. 



N. Aiirora. So named from its changing 

 tints, which vary from a pale rosy-yellow on 

 opening, to orange or reddish tones on the 

 third day, different plants showing much vari- 

 ation in depth of colour. 



N. Brakeleyi rosea. A new hybrid, with 

 large flowers of clear carmine. It is strong 

 and free, fragrant, and blooms far into the 

 autumn. 



N. Candida. A plant coming from Styria, 

 and so near alba as to be often called the Bo- 

 hemian form of it. The flowers art small and 

 very white, with a reddish-brown centre and 

 seeds very large. 



N. Carrisbrooki. A new kind raised in 

 California, and described as bearing flowers of 

 bright flesh pink, and fragrant. 



N. chrysantha. A handsome kind of me- 

 dium growth, and deep yellow flowers passing 

 to orange-red, with a cluster of bright red 

 stamens ; leaves edged and marbled with 

 bronze. 



N. colossea. Very large in leaf and flower, 

 blooming with the earliest and lasting well into 

 the autumn. Leaves rich green above and brown 

 beneath, the fragrant flowers of pale pink, the 

 outer segments of pale olive- green, and pale- 

 yellow stamens. Thrives in open water in 

 deep pond mud, even when exposed in large 

 lakes. 



N. Ellisiana. One of the best, rich in 

 colour and conspicuous at a distance. Large 

 broad-petalled flowers of reddish-crimson with 

 orange-red stamens. A plant of robust growth 

 and free in flower. 



N. flava. Though this will pass a mild 

 winter uninjured, and may even survive for 

 several years in the warmest parts of Britain, 

 a severe frost is fatal. Instead of a thick 

 rhizome this has a mass of fibrous roots, and 

 spreads as freely as any Strawberry by means 

 of long runners which root as they go : the 

 roots are never quite at rest, and possibly this 

 has something to do with its tenderness. Un- 

 der glass it is pretty and distinct, but it starts 

 late in the open, and only blooms well in warm 

 seasons. 



N, fulva. Bears medium-sized star-shaped 

 flowers, curiously incurved at the tips of the 

 petals, and sweetly scented. Its colour is rose 

 upon yellow, with yellow stamens, the red 

 growing deeper towards the centre and bright- 

 ening with age. Leaves spotted with brown 

 above, and suffused with red beneath. 



