N Y M 



N Y M 



colour on tlie oulside, pale within, quite entire, 

 valvL-lfss. It is a native of the East Indies. 



CiiUitre. — It may he increased by layers and 

 cuttings. The layers may be laid down in the 

 earlv part of the umnier, in the usual method, 

 being niade from the young branches, p'ujig- 

 ina the pots containing thcin in a bark hot- 

 bc'a. 



The cuttings should be taken from the vouug 

 shoots, be planted out at the same time, and ma- 

 naged in the same manner. 



The plants, wlvn fully rooted in either way, 

 may be removed into separate pots. They should 

 have due supplies of water, and be pruned and 

 removed into larger pots as there may be 

 occasion 



I'hey are very ornamental and fragrant among 

 other potted tender plants. 



NYMPH^EA, a genus comprising plants of 

 the herbaceous flowery aquatic kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Pohjavdria 

 Monoaynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Succidentce. 



The characters are : that the caiy.x is an in- 

 ferior perianthium, four-, five-, or six-leaved, 

 large, coloured above, permanent : the corolla 

 has numerous petals (often fifteen) placed on the 

 side of the germ, in more than one row : the 

 stamina have numerous filaments (often seventy) 

 flat, curved, blunt, short : anthers oblong, fast- 

 ened to the margin of the filaments : the pistil- 

 lum is an ovate germ, large: style none : stig- 

 ina orbiculate, flat, peltate-sessile, rayed, cre- 

 nate at the edge, permanent : the pericarpium is 

 a hard berry, ovate, fleshy, rude, narrowed at 

 the neck, crowned at the top, many-celled, 

 (cells from ten to fifteen) full of pulp : the seeds 

 very many, and roundish. 



The species are : 1. A'', ////ff/, Yellow Wafer 

 Lilyj ^. N. alba, While Water Lily; 3. N. 

 Lotus, Egyptian Water Lily ; 4. N, iielumiOf 

 Peliated Water Lily. 



The first has the leaves sinooth, plane, e.Ncept 

 that they turn up a little at the edge to keep ofi' 

 the water, tough and pliant, ten or twelve inches 

 in diameter, floating, ovate or nearly orbicular, 

 bright green above, paler underneath, with 

 branched raised nerves or veins: the petioles 

 are smooth, three-sided, their lengtli depending 

 on the depth of water, sometimes five feet and 

 a half in Icnith. The case is the same with 

 the peduncle, which always elevates tlie flower 

 above the water; but after it is impregnated, the 

 seeds are ripened under water, and fall into the 

 mud at bottom to produce new plants : the pe- 

 duncles are round, succulent, and one-flowcrcd : 

 the flowers an inch and half in diameier, having 



a vinous smell. It is a native of most parts of 

 Europe, flowering in .July and August. 



The second species has a tuberous root, fre- 

 quently the size of the human arm, creeping 

 far and wide and deep in mud : the whole plant 

 is larger in all its parts than the first : the leaves 

 arc much the same, onlv larger : the petioles 

 and peduncles round, within full of pores, four 

 of which are generally larger ihan the rest ; hairs 

 interwoven between : the flow ers laree, being 

 sometimes six inches in diameter, very hand- 

 some and double. 



According to Linnaeus, the flower raises itself 

 out of the water and expands about seven o'clock 

 in the morning, and closes again, reposing upon 

 the surface, about four in the evening. It is a 

 native of most parts of Eurojie, flowering in 

 Julv and August. 



The third resembles the second very nuich in 

 the form of theflowerand leaves, but the latter are 

 toothed about the edge. It is a native of the hot 

 parts of the East Indies, Africa, and America, 

 flowering about the middle of September ne.ir 

 Cairo, in Lower Egypt. The Arabians call ic 

 Nupbar. A bread was formerly made of the 

 seed when dried and ground. 



The fourth species has a horizontal root, lonn^, 

 creeping, consisting of joints linked tooether, 

 ovate-oblong, white, fleshy, esculent, Tubular 

 within : the leaves exactly peltate, with a cavitv 

 in the centre above, and dichotomous veins 

 springing from the same centre, orbiculate, 

 with a point on each side, a little waved, thin, 

 paler underneath, smooth, of difl^erent sizes, 

 from four to twelve inclies : the petioles erect, 

 very straight, round, hispid or murieatcd, 

 thicker below, attenuated above : the peduncle 

 the thickness of a finger below, attenuated above, 

 spongy, murieatcd, one-flowered : the flowers 

 as large as the palm of the hand, or larger, 

 purple. It is a native of the Indies, &c. 



The Chinese have the roots not only served up 

 in summer with ice, but laid up in salt and vine- 

 gar for winter ; the seeds are son)ewhat of the 

 size and form of an acorn, and of a taste more 

 delicate than that of almonds : the ponds in 

 China are generally covered with it, and exhi- 

 bit a very beautiful appearance when it is in 

 flower; and the flowers are no less fraarant than 

 handsome. 



Cull lire. — The t«o first sorts may be best in- 

 creased by procuring some of their seed-vessels 

 just as they become ripe and ready to open, and 

 throwing them into canals, ponds, ditches, or 

 oiherstaudingwatcrs, where theseeds, sinking to 

 the bottoms, atTord plants in the following 5prni;j 

 floating upon the suil'ace of their water.s. 

 X2 



