22 NTMPH^ACE^. (WATEE-LILT FAMILY.) 



—Leaves l°-2° broad. Mower 5'-8' in diameter. Tubers farinaceous. 

 Seeds also eatable. Embryo like that of Nymphffia on a large scale. Cotyle- 

 dons thick and fleshy, enclosing a plumule of 1 or 2 well-formed young leaves, 

 enclosed in a delicate stipule-like sheath. 



Order 7. CABOMBACEjE. (Water-shield Family.) 



Aquatics, like Water-Lilies ; but the hypogynous sepals, petals, stamens (in 

 threes, persistent'), and pistils much fewer (dejinite) in number, all distinct 

 and separate. Seeds very few. — Really no more than a simple state of 

 NymphseaoeaB : embraces Cabomba, of the Southern States, and the follow- 

 ing genus. 



1. BRASENIA, Schreber. Watee-shield. 



Sepals 3 or 4. Petals 3-4, linear, sessile. Stamens 12-18 : filameilts fili- 

 foiTi: anthers innate. Pistils 4-18, foi-ming little club-shaped indehiscent 

 pods. Seeds 1-2, pendulous on the dorsal suture ! Embi-yo enclosed in a 

 peculiar bag, at the end of the albumen next the hilum. — Eootstock creeping. 

 Leaves alternate, long-petioled, centrally peltate, oval, floating on the wat£r. 

 Plowers axillary, small, dull-purple. (Name of uncertain origin. ) 



1. B. pcltata, Pursh. (Hydi-opfeltis purpurea, Michx.) — Ponds and 

 slow streams. June -Aug. — Stalks coated with clear jelly. Leaves entire, 

 2' -3' across. (Also a native of Australia and Eastern India !) 



Order 8. NYMPHiEACE^. (Water-Lily Family.) 



Aquatic herbs, with round or peltate floating leaves, and solitary showy 

 flowers from a prostrate roolstock ; the partly colored sepals and numerous 

 petals and stamens imbricated in several rows ; the numerous pistils combined 

 into a many-celled compound ovary. Embryo small, enclosed in a little bag 

 at the end of the albumen, next the hilum, with a distinct plumule, en- 

 closed by the 2 fleshy cotyledons. — Sepals and petals persistent, hypogy- 

 nous or perigynous ; the latter passing into stamens : anthei-s adnate, 

 opening inwards. Fruit a pod-like berry, ripening under water, crowned 

 with the radiate stigmas, 14-30-celled ; the many anatropous seeds at- 

 tached to the sides and back of the cells.- — Eootstocks imitating the endo- 

 genous structure (astringent, with some milky juice, often farinaceous). 



1. IVYMPHJJGA, Tourn. Watee-Ntmph. "Watek-Lilt. 



Sepals 4, green outside. Petals numerous, in many rows, the inner naiTower 

 and gradually passing into stamens, imbricately inserted all over the surface of 

 the ovary. Stamens inserted on the top of the receptacle, the outer with petal- 

 like filaments. Eruit depressed-globular, covered with the bases of the decayed 

 petals. Seeds enveloped by a sac-like aril. — Elowers white rose-color, or blue, 

 very showy. (Dedicated by the Greeks to the "Wator-Nymphs.) 



