616 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Christine Whiting say, in 

 their "\\ ild Flowers," that 

 this yellow pond lily is "a 

 Mower of primitive type ; 

 the combination of yellow 

 and red in the star design 

 of the pistil is suggestive 

 of Egyptian color and de- 

 sign." (P. 36.) Mathews 

 notes that "On the first 

 opening of the flower there 

 IS a triangular orifice over 

 tne stigma, so small that 

 an entering insect must 

 touch the stigma. On the 

 lollowing day the flower 

 expands fully and the an- 

 thers beneath the stigma 

 unfold, spread outward, 

 and expose their pollen. 

 Cross-fertilization is thus 

 msured and is generally 

 effected by means of the 

 bees of the genus Halictus, 

 and the beetle named l)o- 

 nacia piscatrix, as has 

 oeen announced by Profes- 

 sor Robertson. 



Our Water Lily family 

 (Nymphacaccae) contains 

 besides the Yellow Pond Lily just 

 described a number of other very 

 beautiful or very interesting aquatic 

 plants. None of these are better 

 known or more generally admired 

 than the common Water Lily or 

 Water Nymph, of which fine exam- 

 ples are here shown in one of the 

 accompanying cuts. Three other 

 genera make up the group, insofar 

 as our United States flora is con- 

 cerned. These are the Water Chin- 

 quapin (Nelumbo liitea), also called 

 the Yellow Nelumbo ; the Water 

 {Drasenia schreibei), and 

 the Cabomba (C. carolini- 

 ana), a pond plant found from 

 southern Illinois to Florida and 

 Texas. 



No species of all these can com- 

 pare with the White Water Lily. As 

 elsewhere pointed out, this superb 

 aquatic species, with its great, white 

 flowers, has almost a cosmopolitan 

 range in the temperate belt of the 

 Northern Hemisphere. Many gor- 

 geous varieties have been bred from 

 it, and these, from white to the dark- 

 er shades, run through many yel- 

 lows and reds of every conceivable 



VIEW IN THE MARSH NEAR SOMERSET. MARYLAND 

 Here is where you find the Cat-tails and Broad-leaved Arrow-head growing 

 in the greatest luxurizftice Many aquatic ferns and other water plants 

 are profusely mingled with them, while the trees beyond mark the limita- 

 tions of the swampy area. 



Shield 

 finally 



AN ANOMALY IN A MARSH PLANT 

 As a rare coincidence, we sometimes meet with 

 double cat-tails. Here is* one that was collected in 

 Washington during the summer of 1915. Two 

 beautiful Monarch butterBies are resting upon 

 these pistillate flower-heads. Note how thoroughly 

 their markings agree; there is no doubt about 

 their being of the same species {Anosia pUxippus). 



tint. Some of their forms, 

 too, are extremely unique, 

 and many fetch high prices 

 in the flower markets of 

 the world. 



After all is said, how- 

 ever, none of these fancy 

 varieties they are all very 

 unstable varieties appeal 

 to us like the pure white 

 common one of our lakes 

 and ponds. "To my 

 mind," says Reed, "it leads 

 all other flowers in beauty, 

 grace, purity and fra- 

 grance. It is composed of 

 four sepals, greenish on 

 the outside and whitish 

 within, and numerous pure, 

 waxy-white petals. They 

 sometimes are gigantic in 

 size, often spreading five 

 or six inches across." 



Neltje Blanchan, too, 

 breaks forth in raptures 

 when she begins to write 

 about this very same 

 White Water Lily of our 

 ponds thus : "Sumptuous 

 queen of our native aquatic 

 plants of the royal family to which 

 the gigantic Victoria regia of Bra- 

 zil belongs, and all the lovely rose, 

 lavender, blue, and golden exotic 

 water lilies in the fountains of our 

 city parks, to her man, beast and in- 

 sect pay grateful homage. In Egypt, 

 China, India, Japan, Persia and 

 Asiatic Russia, how many millions 

 have bent their heads in adoration 

 of her relative, the sacred lotus ! 

 From its center Brahma came forth ; 

 liuddha, too, whose symbol is the 

 lotus, first appeared floating on the 

 mystic flower {Nelumbo melmnbo, 

 formerly Nelumbium speciosum)." 

 White lilies in nature close up all 

 nis;ht, and open a short time after 

 su.-.rise, when they load the air with 

 their delicious fragrance ; again 

 they close up from noon on till even- 

 tide. 



i-'or many years a controversy 

 has been indulged in, often at a 

 lively rate, among botaqists, as to 

 the correct interpretation of the 

 metamorphosis of the stamens and 

 petals of this white lily, and it still 

 seems to be a mooted question even 

 at this late day. Some claim that 



