NYMPHS ACE^E. (WATEK-LILY FAMILY.) 55 



1. CABOMBA, Aublet. 



Sepals 3. Petals 3, oval, bi-auriculate above the very short claw. Stamens 

 3 - 6 ; anthers short, extrorse. Pistils 2-4, with small terminal stigmas. 

 Seeds 3, pendulous. Slender, mainly submersed, with opposite or verticillate 

 capillary-dissected leaves, a few floating, alternate and centrally peltate. 

 Flowers single on long axillary peduncles. (Probably an aboriginal name.) 



1. C. G'aroliniana, Gray. Floating leaves linear-oblong or -obovate, 

 often with a basal notch; flowers 6-8" broad, white with yellow spots at 

 % ase; stamens 6. Ponds, S. 111. (May -Sept., Schneck) to Fla. and Tex. 



2. BRASENIA, Schreber. WATER-SHIELD. 



Sepals 3 or 4. Petals 3 or 4, linear, sessile. Stamens 12 - 18 ; filaments fili- 

 form; anthers innate. Pistils 4-18, forming little club-shaped indehiscent 

 pods ; stigmas linear. Seeds 1-2, pendulous on the dorsal suture ! Root- 

 stock creeping. Leaves alternate, long-petioled, centrally peltate, oval, float- 

 ing. Flowers axillary, small, dull-purple. (Name of uncertain origin.) 



1. B. peltata, Pursh. Leaves entire, 1-4' across. Ponds and slow 

 streams. June -Aug. (Asia, Africa and Australia.) 



3. N E L U M B O, Tourn. SACRED BEAN. 



The only genus of the suborder. (Nelumbo is the Ceylonese name of the 

 East Indian species, the pink-flowered N. speciosa.) 



1. N. Itltea, Pers. (YELLOW NELUMBO, or WATER CHINQUAPIN.) 

 Leaves usually raised high out of the water, circular, with the centre depressed 

 or cupped, 1 - 2 in diameter ; flower pale yellow, 5 - 10' broad ; anthers tipped 

 with a slender hooked appendage. (Nelumbium luteum, Willd.) S. Conn, 

 (probably of Indian introduction) to Lake Ontario, Mich., Minn., E. Neb., and 

 southward ; rare in the Middle States. Tubers farinaceous and edible. Seeds 

 also eatable. Embryo like that of Nymphaea on a large scale ; cotyledons thick 

 and fleshy, enclosing a plumule of 1 or 2 well-formed young leaves, enclosed 

 in a delicate stipule-like sheath. 



4. NYMPHJEA, Tourn. WATER-NYMPH. WATER-LILY. 



Sepals 4, green outside, nearly free. Petals numerous, in many rows, the 

 innermost gradually passing into stamens, imbricately inserted all over the 

 ovary. Stamens indefinite, inserted on the ovary, the outer with dilated fila- 

 ments. Ovary 12-35-celled, the concave summit tipped with a globular pro- 

 jection at the centre, around which are the radiate stigmas ; these project at the 

 margin, and are extended into linear and incurved sterile appendages. Fruit 

 depressed-globular, covered with the bases of the decayed petals, maturing 

 under water. Seeds enveloped by a sac-like aril. Flowers white, pink, yel- 

 low, or blue, very showy. (Dedicated by the Greeks to the Water-Nymphs.) 



1. N. odorata, Ait. (SWEET-SCENTED WATER-LILY.) Rootstock with 

 few and persistent branches ; leaves orbicular, cordate-cleft at the base to the 

 petiole (5-9' wide), the margin entire; stipules broadly triangular or almost 

 kidney-shaped, notched at the apex, appressed to the rootstock ; flower white, 

 very sweet scented (often as much as 5J-' in diameter when fully expanded, 

 opening early in the morning, closing in the afternoon) ; petals obtuse; anthers 



