i62 THE WATER LILY FAMILY. 



THE WATER LILY FAMILY. 



NympJicBaceae. 



Including herbs tJiaf grow in water with floating or occasionally 

 inunersed foliage andiuJiich bear large, solitary and axillary flowers. 



YELLOW NELUMBO. YONQUAPIN. WATER CHINKAPIN. 



Nehujibo liitca. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Water lily. Pale yellow, Ffagrant. Florida to Ontario. Jzily, August. 



Floivers : four to ten inches in diameter and growing on long, naked scapes. 

 6'if/rt/j-; four or five. Petals: numerous; concave; rounded at their apices. Sta- 

 mens: numerous; their filaments petal-like. Pistils: numerous and sunken in a 

 large, top-shaped receptacle. .S-i'^^'j- ; obconic. Leaves: one to two feet broad; 

 floating, or raised with long petioles high above the water; orbicular; peltate ; 

 prominently veined; bright green and glabrous above, somewhat pubescent under- 

 neath. 



There is no plant life, it would seem, which is more beautiful or wonder- 

 ful in its ways of adapting itself to its surroundings than that of the water ; 

 and by none is this better displayed than the water lilies which float so 

 peacefully on its surface. This great one is very much localised through 

 its range and is a startling feature as it occurs in ponds through rice 

 fields. Its general formation is similar to that of the well known white 

 water lily, Castalia odorata ; its sepals therefore gradate into petals and 

 the numerous concentric rows of petals, in their turn, gradate into stamens 

 — that is, if they do not accomplish this transformation in just the reverse 

 order as is thought by a number of botanists. The tubers of this species 

 are edible as are also its farinaceous seeds, which when ripe can be moved 

 freely about with the finger in the sunken holes of the receptacle. To the 

 Indians they have been a highly prized food. 



Neliunbo Nehimbo, Indian lotus, or sacred bean, a native of the orient 

 and Australia, is now locally introduced in this country and is beginning to 

 be considerably seen in cultivation. Its great, gorgeous bloom is a deep, 

 rich pink, or more rarely a pure white, while the concave leaves holding as 

 dishes the rain, form for it a bold and artistic background. By the Egyp- 

 tians the plant was dedicated to Osiris. Buddha, also, is said to have first 

 been seen when resting on the flower. Brahma, we are told, came forth from 

 the blossom and so it is enshrouded with much sacred and legendary lore. 



Castalia odorata, sweet-scented white water lily, or water nymph, is the 

 one of the genus most familiar to all and is generally distributed over the 

 country. One of its peculiarities is that its fruit ripens under the water. 



