5° 



NyMPH.4£AS: CLASSES AND DISTRinVTION. 



thev cannot be thus grown in Enyland, where such severe winters are not 

 experienced, but on the other hand that country lacks tlie heat of our summers, 

 so the plant is not able to perfect or mature its growth. Nelumbiums, like 

 hardy Nymphjeas, embrace the white, pink, deep rose, and yellow colors, and 

 are among the choicest of hard}' aquatics. 



The tropical or tender Nymphseas embrace all the deeper shades of rose 

 and crimson, pale blue and purple, also white and yellow. These are again 

 divided into two classes; day and night blooming. These species and varieties 

 are widely distributed and are indigenous to the tropics, as are the hardy 

 varieties to the temperate zones. Nymphsea zanzibarensis and its forms azurea 

 and rosea are, as the name implies, indigenous to Zanzibar, in Africa; 

 N. coerulea comes from Egypt; N. gigantea is a native of Australia; N. versi- 

 color, India; N. gracilis, Mexico; these are day flowering forms. 



In the night flowering class are: N. ampla, (Jamaica) ; N. lotus, (Hungary) ; 

 N. dentata, (Sierra Leone); N. rubra, (East Indies). This last is apparently the 

 only red species, but be this as it may, we have many garden hybrids of many 

 shades of pink, carmine, and crimson, which make up a large and complete list of 

 night flowering forms. Detailed descriptions of these are given in chapter XIV. 

 These not only afford different and distinct colors, but the individual flowers 

 are as varied in shape and size as they are in color; some flowers are cup shaped, 

 others open horizontally; some have wide petals, others narrow and sharp 

 pointed; some flowers float on the surface of the water, others are erect and 

 stand out above the surface of the water several inches on stout stalks. 



As to fragrance : some resemble Violets, others Tea Roses, Lily of the Valley, 

 etc., in their odor, but the fragrance of N. odorata, our native species, may be 

 truly styled the fragrance of the Water Lily, it is peculiarly its own. 



