XIV. 
CASTALIA MAGNIFICA. 
: 3 Magnificent Castalia. 
ORDO NATURALIS. 
_Nymphzée. Ann. of Bot. v. 2. p. 57. — 
Sect. 1. Monogyne. 
# Stigma placentaforme, radiis tot quot loculi fructus. 
Calyx 4-5-phyllus, marginem tori cingens. Petala 12-30, pericarpio a basi fere usque ad medi- 
um imbricata: Filamenta 30-140, pericarpio altius imbricata, libera. Pericarpium 10-28-lo- 
culare, in partu putrescens, Nectarium 1, umbilico stigmatis sessile, unioniforme. Semina 
numerosa, parietibus sessilia, folliculo cincta. Flores albi, rubri, ceruleive, Magnoliarum ~ 
emuli. Cum uterum totum, quasi ob pudicitiam, occultent species hujus generis, Castalias dixi. 
# Lamine foliorum usque ad petiolum fisse. 
C. foliorum lobis divaricatis, acuminatis: toro medioliformi. Pudica, 
Nymphezea odorata. Kenn. in Bot. Rep. n. 297, cum Ic, Nympheea odorata. Dryand. in 
Hort, Kew, 0. 2. p. 227. 
Sponte nascentem in Virginia, legit J. Clayton. 
The Flowers diffuse a spicy odour, somewhat resembling Aniseeds. 
C. foliorum lobis approximatis, vix acuminatis: toro cymbaliformi. Speciosa > 
Nympheea alba.’ Smith in Engl. Bot. n. 160. cum Ic. in qua Nervi foliorum stirpem 
monocotyledonem perperam referunt. Nymphea alba, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 2. p.729. 
Sponte nascitur in Ins. Great Britain, aquis lente fluentibus. 
oe ee i, pe eee 
The flowers are not without smell, as Dr. Smith relates, g I 3 - 
and the detail he gave publicly, at the Royal Institution, of their descending under wa- 
ter in the night, is equally erroveous, I am sorry to find that Botanist has taken offeuce at 
the preface of this work (1): had I not long known him to be very sensitive, even before 
I named a genus after him in the Hortus Kewensis, I should have said much more upon 
the subject. Whether the passages he quotes contain any thing like exultation, and 
. which of us treads most closely in the steps of the great Linné, I leave others to judge ; 
but the next time he pays my labours a compliment, I beseech him not to do this at the 
expence of a friend, whom he affects to value and respect so highly, as the author of the 
Plante Guianenses, the descriptions and figures of which, in point of botanical accuracy, 
far excel any given to the world by him. 
: (1) Vide Exot, Botany, p- 86. 
