ROYAL WATER-LILY. 33 



In the year 1827, M. A. D'Orbigny discovered 

 this vegetable wonder on the river Parana, at a part 

 of this " majestic stream" nearly a league in breadth, 

 although distant 900 miles from its junction with the 

 Rio Plata. He communicated specimens, along with 

 his other collections, to the Museum of Natural His- 

 tory at Paris, in the same year. He gives a very inte- 

 resting account of the Victoria Water-Lily, and also 

 of another allied plant, which he supposes to be a dis- 

 tinct species, although we feel more inclined to follow 

 the general opinion of botanists in considering it a 

 variety only, more especially since Mr Spruce has 

 recently observed different flowers from the same 

 root, varying in their appearance, and uniting the 

 characters of Victoria Regia and M. D'Orbigny's 

 second species, for which he proposes the name of 

 Victoria Cruziana. To the " Botanical Magazine " 

 are we indebted for M. D'Orbigny's remarks in Eng- 

 lish dress, and these are withal so interesting, besides 

 containing almost all the information that is known 

 concerning the supposed second species, that we must 

 introduce them here at full length. He says : " If 

 there exist in the animal kingdom creatures whose 

 size, compared with our own, commands admiration 

 by their enormous stature; if we also gaze with won- 

 der on the giants of the vegetable kingdom, we may 

 well take especial pleasure in surveying any peculiarly 

 wonderful species of those genera of plants which are 

 already known to us only in more moderate dimen- 



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