WATER LILY. 



597 



more curious than beautiful, a native ot Carolina. 

 The root is scaly, nearly resembling a bulb, and 

 not prolific in fibres. The leaves have the petiole 

 winged, like the orange; and the extreme part, 

 which may be called the proper leaf, is formed 

 into two halves, which move on a central hinge. 



Venus Fly Trnp. 



and fold up and contract on the slightest contact 

 with any substance. The edges are beset with 

 spines, and the surface is covered with aglutinous 

 mucilage. The flowers grow in a corymb, 

 resembling an umbel. When flies alight on the 

 extremities of the leaves, the contact of their 

 feet produces sufficient irritation to make the 

 two halves contract suddenly and firmly, by 

 which the fly is crushed and pressed to the 

 glutinous sides, to which it is fixed until it dies. 

 LiuntEus affirms, that when the entrapped insect 

 ceases to struggle, and is quiet, the leaf opens 

 and permits it to escape; while Ellis, on the 

 other hand, says, that the lobes never open 

 again so long as the animal continues there. He 

 thinks it prolwble that a sweet liquor discharged 

 by the red glands, tempts the insect to its de- 

 struction; and adds, that if a straw or pin be 

 introduced between the lobes, they will grasp it 

 as fast as if it were an insect. 



Tliis plant is rather difficult to raise. Accord- 

 ing to Sweet, it thrives best in a pot of sjihag- 

 num, with a little mould at the bottom of the 

 pot, and placed in a pan of water. In all cases, 

 it is necessary that the plants be supplied with 

 fresh cool air. 



Wateu Li i.y. Nj/mphca; polt/andria, monopt/nia, 

 of Linna;us, This genus contains several beau- 

 tiful species, which are a<|uatic plants, gi-owing 

 in ponds and slow ninning streams. The com- 

 mon water lil}' (n. alba), has broad showy 

 leaves, which float on the surface of the water; 

 and a large white flower, with numerous jietals, 

 so as almost to appear doulile. It rises out of 

 tlie water and expands about seven o'clock in 

 the morning, and closes again about four in 

 the afternoon, reposing on the surface tJJ] it 



again expands in the morning. The roots have 

 an astringent, bitter taste, and are used in the 

 highlands of Scotland and Ireland to dye cloth 

 a dark brown or purple. 



The lotus resembles the common water lily, 

 only the leaves are toothed at the edges. It is a 

 native of the hottest parts of India, Africa, and 

 America; and is abundant in the ponds and rivers 

 of Jamaica. The banks of the Nile are famous 

 for this plant, which grows during the time 

 the country is under the annual floods of the 

 river. 



The Common Yellow Naphar (n. lutea), is 

 another aquatic plant, which has a very beauti- 

 ful appeai'ance in artificial ponds. 



All these plants are easily reared either in 

 ponds or in pots of water, with a few inches of 

 soil in the bottom. They are propagated by 

 dividing the roots, and by offsets fi-om the bul- 

 bous species. 



The Sacred Bean of India is supposed to be 

 the nelumbium speciosum, a large petalled and 

 splendid aquatic plant.* It is a native of both 

 the East and West Indies, China, Japan, and 

 Persia, and Asiatic Russia. According to Thum- 

 berg, it is esteemed a sacred plant in Japan, and 

 pleasing to their deities ; the images of their 

 idols being often represented as sitting on its 

 large leaves. The long stalks are used by the 

 natives as an article of diet. Loiireiro mentions 

 tliat it abounds in muddy marshes in India and 

 China, and is cultivated in large handsome pots 

 in the gardens and houses of the mandarins ; 

 that there is a variety with the flower of a pure 

 white, and another with a veiy beautiful lux- 

 uriant flower, having about one hundred large 

 petals, white or rose-coloured. Both root and 

 seeds are esculent, saj)id, and wholesome. The 

 Chinese call it lien-wha, and the seeds and slices 

 of the hairy root, with the kernels of apri- 

 cots and walnuts, and alternate la3'ers of ice, were 

 frequently presented to the British Ambassador 

 and his suite at breakfasts given by some of the 

 principal mandarins. The Chinese have always 

 held tliis plant in such high value, that at 

 length they regarded it as sacred. That charac- 

 ter, however, has not limited it to merely orna- 

 mental purposes, for the roots are not only 

 served up in summer with ice, l)ut they are also 

 laid up in salt and vinegar for the winter. The 

 seeds are somewhat of the size and Ibrm ot an 

 acorn, and of a taste more delicate than that of 

 almonds. The ponds are generally covered with 

 it, and exhibit a very beautiful appearance when 

 it is in flower ; and the flowers are no less fra- 

 grant than handsome. Sir George Staunton 

 remarks, that the leaf, besides its common uses, 

 has, from its structure, growing entirely' round 

 the stalk, the advantage of defending the flower 



* Shuitly uUiidca to, p. 2;0. 



