White and Greenish 



projecting stigmas. Leaves: Floating, nearly round, slit at 

 bottom, shining green above, reddish and more or less hairy 

 below, 4 to 12 in. across, attached to petiole at centre of 

 lower surface. Petioles and peduncles round and rubber-like, 

 with 4 main air-channels. Rootstock : (Not true stem), thick, 

 simple or with few branches, very long. 



Preferred Habitat— ^i'iA water, ponds, lakes, slow streams. 



Flowering Season — June — September. 



Distribution — Nova Scotia to Gulf of JViexico, and westward to the 

 Mississippi. 



Sumptuous queen of our native aquatic plants, of the royal 

 family to which the gigantic Victoria regia of Brazil belongs, 

 and all the lovely rose, lavender, blue, and golden exotic water 

 lilies in the fountains of our city parks, to her man, beast, and in- 

 sect pay grateful homage. In Egypt, India, China, Japan, Persia, 

 and Asiatic Russia, how many millions have bent their heads in 

 adoration of her relative the sacred lotus ! From its centre Brahma 

 came forth ; Buddha, too, whose symbol is the lotus, first ap- 

 peared floating on the mystic flower {Nelumbo nelutnbo, formerly 

 Nelumbium speciosum). Happily the lovely pink or white " sa- 

 cred bean" or "rose-lily" of the Nile, often cultivated here, has 

 been successfully naturalized in ponds about Bordentown, New 

 Jersey, and maybe elsewhere. If he who planteth a tree is greater 

 than he who taketh a city, that man should be canonized who 

 introduces the magnificent wild flowers of foreign lands to our 

 area of Nature's garden. 



Now, cultivation of our native water lilies and all their hardy 

 kin, like charity, begins at home. Their culture in tubs, casks, 

 or fountains on the lawn, is so very simple a matter, and the flowers 

 bloom so freely, every garden should have a corner for aquatic 



Elants. Secure the water-lily roots as early in the spring as possi- 

 le, and barely cover them with good rich loam or muck spread 

 over the bottom of the sunken tub to a depth of six or eight inches. 

 After it has been filled with water, and replenished from time to 

 time to make good the loss by evaporation, the water garden 

 ,needs no attention until autumn. Then the tub should be drained, 

 and removed to a cellar, or it may be covered over with a thick 

 mattress of dry leaves to protect from hard freezing. In their 

 natural haunts, water lilies sink to the bottom, where the water is 

 warmest in winter. Possibly the seed is ripened below the surface 

 for the same reason. At no time should the crown of the culti- 

 vated plant be lower than two feet below the water. If a num- 

 ber of species are grown, it is best to plant each kind in a separate 

 basket, sunk in the shallow tub, to prevent the roots from growing 

 together, as well as to obtain more effective decoration. Charm- 

 ing results may be obtained with small outlay of either money or 

 time. Nothing brings more birds about the house than one of 



174 



