98 COMMON YELLOW WATER-LILY. 



is scarcely less showy in appearance than the 

 white flowered plant. It is, however, somewhat 

 smaller in all its parts. By the general observer, 

 the Nuphar will be readily distinguished by the 

 golden hue of its cup-shaped flowers ; but the 

 botanist finds more important structural distinc- 

 tions betwixt this plant and the Nymphsea, in the 

 number of the calyx segments, insertion of the pe- 

 tals, &c., which are considered sufficient to war- 

 rant their separation into distinct genera. Smith 

 was indeed quite decided in his opinion of the genus 

 Nuphar "being essentially different" in structure 

 from Nympheea; and succeeding botanists have cor- 

 roborated his views. In general appearance, the 

 foliage of the Yellow Water-Lily does not differ ma- 

 terially from that of the Nymphaea; but it has been 

 observed, that, besides the leaves which are pre- 

 sented to view floating on the surface of the water, 

 the plant bears a distinct set of leaves which never 

 appear above the surface, and which have been de- 

 scribed as tenderer, more undulated, and shorter, 

 their lobes being very much divaricated or extend- 

 ed, and hence approaching to kidney-shaped.* The 

 flowers, which measure two inches or more in width, 

 have an odour resembling that of brandy, a fact 

 which, we think, was first observed by Ray. In 

 some places Norfolk especially, we are told the 



* Botanical Magazine. 



