HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



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VIC 



or lobes of the calyx, oblong, concave, and white, 

 the inner ones gradually becoming narrower, 

 more pointed, and of a beautiful deep rose color. 

 When fully expanded the outer petals are bent 

 downward, while the central rose-colored ones, 

 with the stamens, remain erect; and thus a no- 

 ble appearance is presented, as of a central rose- 

 colored crown supported by a series of pure 

 white and most gracefully curved petals. The 

 stamens are numerous, the outer ones some- 

 what lance-shaped, gracefully curved, of a fine 

 rose-color, and having two linear anther cells 

 on the inner face, near, but not quite extending 

 to the top. Within these fertile stamens are 

 other sterile ones, smaller in size, less highly 

 colored, arching over the stigmas, to which they 

 approximate also in color and form. The ovary 

 is adherent to the calyx tube, somewhat globular 

 or top-shaped, its upper portion hollowed like a 

 cup, and presenting in the center a little round- 

 . ed or conical knob. Along the upper margin of 

 the cup are placed the stigmas, fleshy, pointed 

 "bodies, somewhat flattened at the sides, and 

 bent in the middle, so that their points project 

 over the cup toward the center. Each stigma 

 has a prominent line along its upper surface, 

 running down to the central knob, which is 

 thus the focus of a series of ridges, radiating 

 toward the stigmas. The interior of the ovary 

 contains numerous cavities corresponding to 

 the stigmas, and each containing several ovules. 

 The fruit, when ripe, is a sort of globular berry, 

 thickly beset with formidable prickles. The 

 seeds escape by the rotting of the outer por- 

 tions of the fruit. These noble plants inhabit 

 the tranquil rivers of South America, especially 

 those which are tributary to the Amazon. They 

 differ in the size of the seeds and other particu- 

 lars; but when it is remembered how variable 

 aquatic plants are, it is better, for the present 

 at least, to consider them as forms of one rather 

 than as distinct species. Generically, Victoria is 

 most nearly allied to Euryale, but it is distinguish- 

 ed by the deciduous sepals, by the gradual transi- 

 tion in the form of the petals to that of the sta- 

 mens, by the more numerous cavities of the 

 ovary, and other particulars. The leaf of Eury- 

 ale is, however, an exact miniature copy of that 

 of the Victoria, save that it is not turned up at 

 the margin. 



" The earliest traveler who discovered this plant 

 was Hasnke, in 1801. Bonpland subsequently 

 met with it; but M. D'Orbigny was the first to 

 send home specimens to Paris in 1828. They 

 were, however, neglected or overlooked. In a ! 

 work published some few years after this time, j 

 M. D'Orbigny mentions having discovered the | 

 plant in the River Parana in Guiana. It was j 

 known, he says, to the natives by the name of j 

 Irupe, in allusion to the shape of the leaves, j 

 which resembles that of the broad dishes used j 

 in the country. The Spaniards call the plant | 

 Water Maize, as they collect the seeds, and eat i 

 them roasted. In 1832 a German traveler found ! 

 it in some tributaries of the Amazon; but it was , 

 not until the late Sir Robert Schomburgk dis- 

 covered it in the Berbice River, in British 

 Guiana, in the year 1837, that public attention j 

 was drawn to the magnificent plant." Sir \ 

 Robert, in a letter to the Royal Geographical i 

 Society, thus describes his first sight of the i 

 plant: "It was on the first of January, 1837, 

 while contending with the difficulties that na- 

 ture interposed in different ways to hinder our 

 progress up the River Berbice, that we arrived i 



VIC 



at a part where the river expanded and formed 

 a currentless basin. Some object on the south- 

 ern extremity of this basin attracted my atten- 

 tion, and I was unable to form an idea what it 

 could be; but, animating the crew to increase 

 the rate of their paddling, we soon came oppo- 

 site the object which had raised my curiosity, 

 and, behold, a vegetable wonder! All calami- 

 ties were forgotten. I was a botanist, and felt 

 myself rewarded ! There were gigantic leaves, 

 five to six feet across, flat, with a broad brim, 

 light green above and vivid crimson beneath, 

 floating on the water; while, in character with 

 the wonderful foliage, I saw luxuriant flowers, 

 each consisting of numerous petals, passing in 

 alternate tints from pure white to rose and pink. 

 The smooth water was covered with the flowers; 

 and as I rowed from one to the other I always 

 found something new to admire." In 1845 

 Mr. Bridges, an English traveler, while riding 

 along the River Yacouma, a tributary of the 

 Mamore, came across a large colony of the Victo- 

 ria, and succeeded in collecting a quantity of 

 the ripe seeds, which he took with him, soon 

 thereafter, to England. Some of them he in- 

 trusted to Sir Joseph Paxton at Chatsworth, who 

 succeeded in producing the plant in November, 

 1849, and presented a flower to the Queen at 

 Windsor Castle, where a brilliant assemblage 

 met to admire the new and beautiful treasure. 

 The Victoria regia has been successfully grown 

 in several private collections of plants in the 

 United States, and about twenty years ago was 

 publicly exhibited at Tripler Hall, in the City of 

 New York, by the New York Horticultural Soci- 

 ety, where it attracted thousands of wondering 

 admirers. There was a little romance connected 

 with this exhibition of the plant, the particulars 

 of which have been furnished by Mr. Peter B. 

 Mead, as follows: "I will tell you briefly the 

 particulars connected with the exhibition of the 

 Victoria reqia by the New York Horticultural So- 

 ciety at Tripler Hall. I was chairman of the 

 committee of arrangements. Mr. Caleb Cope, of 

 Philadelphia, was the first to grow and flower 

 the Victoria in the United States. I was one of 

 his correspondents, and just at the time'of our 

 exhibition he informed me that his Victoria was 

 in full bloom . I wrote him, begging a leaf and 

 a flower for our exhibition. The answer came, 

 with a liberality that always characterized Mr. 

 Cope, that I could have a plant, with all the 

 flowers and buds, if I would send for it. I con- 

 cluded to go myself, and my associates under- 

 took to build a tank some twenty-five feet in di- 

 ameter, and send notices to all the papers that 

 the Victoria regia would be on exhibition the 

 next day. I took Mr. Lenoir with me, and we 

 met Mr. Cope at Tacony (opposite Philadelphia) 

 waiting for us. We rode up to Mr. Cope's coun- 

 try seat, where, to my surprise, I found the Vic- 

 toria already splendidly packed in moss in a 

 box about seven feet square and nearly two feet 

 deep. There was about an hour to spare, and 

 that was devoted almost entirely to the large 

 Lily house, built expressly for the Victoria, but 

 containing many other aquatics, Ferns, Orchids, 

 etc. The tank was about thirty feet in diame- 

 ter, the chill taken off the water by a hot-water 

 pipe, and the water kept in motion by a small 

 water-wheel placed at the point where the water 

 entered the tank. It was a miniature of the 

 water-wheel that you will see at almost any grist 

 mill. The whole house was so fascinating that 

 even now it makes me forget my adventure with 



