NYjrrn.F.ACKyE. (watku-lily family.) 55 



indehiscent, 1 - 3-seedc(l on the dorsal sutme. — Stems slender, leafy, 

 coated with mucilage. Flowers small. 



1. Braseiiia. Stamens 12-18 : filaments slender. Leaves all peltate. 



SuBOKDEU II. ]Vli:L,lIIWB6l\l::.i:. (Nelumbo Family.) 



Sepals and petals numerous in several rows, passing gradually into each 

 other, and with the indefinitely numerous stamens hypogynous and decid- 

 uous. Pistils several, 1-ovuled, separately immei-sed in the obconlcal re- 

 ceptacle, which is much enlarged and broadly top-shaped at maturity, the 

 imbedded nut-like fruits resembling small acorns. Embryo large ; no al- 

 bumen. — Petioles and peduncles all from the tuberous rootstock, the cen- 

 trally peltate leaves and the flowers large. 



2. Nelunibiuin. Character of the Suborder. 



SuBOitDKR III. NYx^IPHiEACK.i: proper. (Water-Lily F.) 



Sepals 4 - G, and petals numerous in many rows, pei-sistent or decayino- 

 away, either hypogynous or variously adnate to the surface of the com- 

 pound 8 - 30-celled ovary, which is formed by the union of ns many car- 

 pels ; the numerous ovules inserted over the whole inner face of the cells, 

 except at tb« ventral suture.' Stigmas radiate as in Poppy. Fruit bac- 

 cate, with a firm rind. Petioles and peduncles from a thick rootstock. 



3. Nymph tea. Petals .idnatc to the ovary, large ; the stamens on its summit. 



4. Nuphar. Petals, very small and stamen-like, and stamens inserted under the ovary. 



1. BRASilNIA, Schrcbcr. Watkr-Shikld. 



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

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

 pods : stisma linear. Seeds 1 - 2, pcndnlous on the dorsal suture ! — Rootstock 

 creepino;. Leaves alternate, lonff-j:(etiolcd, centrally peltate, oval, floatin.u: on 

 the water. Flowers axillary, small, dtdl-purplc. (Name of uncertain origin.) 



1- B. peltkta. Pursh. (Hydrope'ltis purpurea, il//r^.r.) — Ponds and slow 

 streams. June - Aug. — Leaves entire, 2' - .3' across. ( Also a native of Puget 

 Sound, Japan, Australia, and Eastern India! 



Cab6mb.\, the other genus of the group, occurs from N. Carolina southward. 



2. NELUMBIUM, Juss. Neixmbo. Sacred Bean. 



The only genus of the suborder. (Nehimho is the Ceylonese name of the East 

 Indian species, the piid<-flo\ver('d N. spcciosum.) 



1. N. liiteura, Willd. (Yellow Nelumbo, or "Wateh CnixQUEPiN.) 

 Corolla pale vellow ; anthers tipjied with a slender hooked appendage. — Wa- 

 ters of the Western and Southern States ; rare in the Middle States : intro- 

 duced into tlic Delaware below Pliiladelphia. Near Woodstown and Sussex 

 Co., Nf.w Jersey. Rig Sodus Ray. L. Ontario, and in the Connecticut near 

 Lyme ; perhaps introduced there l>y the aborigines. June - Aug. — ^ Leaves 

 usually raised high out of the water, circular in outline, with the centre dc- 



