Ill] 



SEEDLINGS OF VICTORIA REGIA 



33 



among the Alismaceae. The leaf-succession in the Giant 

 Waterlily of the Amazons was long ago recorded 1 , but the full 

 appreciation of its significance we owe to Gwynne-Vaughan 2 , 

 who contributed greatly to 

 our knowledge of the Nym- 

 phaeaceae. He pointed out 

 that the successive leaves 

 of the Victoria regia seedling 

 show a progressive change 

 from the acicular primor- 

 dial leaf to the peltate form 

 of the mature leaf. The fol- 

 io wing account of the series 

 is derived from his work : 



The first leaf is acicular 

 and without a blade (/ a in 

 Fig. 1 6). 



The second leaf is elon- 

 gate lanceolate, sometimes 

 with two hastate lobes, and 

 resembles the adult leaves 

 of Barclay a (/ 2 in Fig. 1 6). 



The third leaf \s elongate- 

 hastate to deltoid-hastate, 

 recalling the sagittate 

 leaves of Castalia pygmaea, 

 Salisb., etc. At the base of 

 the lamina, just above the 



insertion of the petiole, FIG. 1 6. Victoriaregia.Undl. Seedling, showing 



there is a little pocket or a c ;j lar first ; leaf '/ and ha * tate sec nd and 



r. ^ third leaves 1 2 and l s . (According to Gwynne- 



pOUch On the adaxial Side, Vaughan, D. T. (1897), the second leaf is more 



whirh ar^Mrcf^ K/ fru-m^rl commonl y lanceolate.) st., stipules of second 



Which appears tO Deformed leaf which protect the third. (Nat. size.) [A. A.] 



by the fusion of the auricles 

 at their bases. 



The fourth leaf is the first swimming leaf, and is distinctly 



1 Trecul, A. (1854). 2 Gwynne-Vaughan, D. T. (1897). 



A.W. P. 



