Manchester^ Sfc.^ Essex County^ Massachusetts. 101 



with the long stems laden with golden blossoms of the 

 Utricul^aria vulgaris^ (the common or Greater Bladder- 

 wort.) In the soft, black and oozy mud, and where usually 

 there might have been several feet of water in the excava- 

 tions made by cuttings for peat, and now almost dry, were 

 the beautiful flowers of the NYMPHiE^A odorata, that Q,ueen 

 of our northern waters, lying sadly prostrate, or scarcely ele- 

 vated on short stems j and although in such an unusual con- 

 dition, yet expanding its snowy petals, as if a nymph of the 

 lake had been transformed by some potent spell into a den- 

 izen of some more terraqueous site ! 



From the general health of the plant, I thought that we 

 might gather a valuable hint, to try the culture of the Nym- 

 phasa under circumstances where even a scanty supply of 

 water is available ; and certainly, if the same pains were 

 taken in this way, that is bestowed on far less worthy ob- 

 jects, considerable success might be reasonably anticipated. 

 An aquarium in some of our greenhouses, that could be sup- 

 plied with CocHiTUATE, might afford a crop of pond-lilies of 

 as dainty rarity when out of season, as is many a camellia ; 

 and this all the more to be surmised, after having seen the 

 pretty little NymphcBa ccerulea so carefully nursed in shallow 

 pans, in the warmer parts of the conservatory. 



There are some improvable qualities connected with our 

 native Nymph^^a which should not be overlooked. I mean 

 its increasing in size of foliage and flowers, when under fa- 

 vorable circumstances. Some roots which have been for 

 several years planted in a small artificial pond in the garden 

 of E. Hersey Derby, Esq., of Salem, produce extraordinary 

 large blossoms and continue to flower for several weeks later 

 than when growing wild. The beautiful variety, with 

 roseate petals, cultivated at the Botanic Garden, Cambridge, 

 may be familiar to many of our readers ; and it would be 

 pleasant to see the Nymph^'^a a'lba of Great Britain, so 

 closely allied to our own in our streams and ponds, intro- 

 duced, of which no instance has ever occurred to my knowl- 

 edge. 



As we ascended the higher points of land and scaled the 



