THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 357 



the limpid water. It is thus that the leaves of some aquatic 

 ranunculuses are seen forming movable green carpets in the 

 depths of our streams. 



If we transport ourselves to the agitated waves of the 

 Amazon, we find there leaves which display themselves on 

 the surface like immense plains of verdure ; these are the 



166. A River Reach filled with the Floating Leaves of the Victoria reyia. 



growth of the Victoria regia. These leaves, almost circular, 

 are from six to eight feet in diameter. They spring from 

 a petiole, which, issuing from the depths of the river, pro- 

 jects from its stem some twenty feet distance, and ends be- 

 neath the blade, forming, by its ramifications, a solid frame- 

 work, strengthened by very projecting partitions such as no 

 other plant possesses. The upper surface of the leaves of 

 the Victoria is, on the contrary, very uniform and of a beau- 

 tiful green ; thus, seen at a distance, they look like so many 



