Wild-Flower Study 



547 



finally decays and the seed falls to the bottom where, if the conditions are 



favorable, it develops into a new plant. 



To emphasize the fact that the water lily is dependent upon certain 



geographical conditions, ask the pupils to imagine a water lily planted 

 upon a hillside. How could its roots, furnished 

 with such insufficient rootlets, get nourishment 

 there? How could its soft, flexible stems hold aloft 

 the heavy leaves and blossoms to the sunlight? In 

 such a situation it would be a mere drooping mass. 

 Moreover, if the pupils understand the conditions 

 in which the water lilies grow in their own neighbor- 

 hood, they can understand the conditions under 

 which the plant grows in other countries. Thus, 

 when they read about the great Victoria regia of the 

 Amazon, — that water lily whose leaves are large 

 enough to support e man, — they would have visions 

 of broad stretches of still water and they should 

 realize that the bottom must be silt. If they read 

 about the lotus of Egypt, then they should see the 

 Nile as a river with borders of still water and with 

 bottom of silt. Thus, from the conditions near at 

 hand, we may cultivate in the child an intelligent 

 geographical imagination. 



Seed vessel oj wliite 

 pond lily. 



LESSON CXXXII 

 The Water Lily 



Leading thought — The water lily has become dependent upon certain 

 conditions in pond or stream, and has become unfitted in form to live 

 elsewhere. It must have quiet waters, not too deep, and with silt bottom. 



Method — The study should be made first with the water lilies in a 

 stream or pond, to discover just how they grow. For the special struc- 

 ture, the leaves and flowers may be brought to the schoolroom and floated 

 in a pan of water. The lesson may easily be modified to fit the yellow 

 water lily, which is in many ways even more interesting, since in shallow 

 water it holds its leaves erect while in deeper water its leaves float. 



Observations — i. Where is the water lily found? If in a pond, how 

 deep is the water? If in a stream, is it in the current? What kind of 

 bottom is there to the stream or pond? Do you find lilies in the water of 

 a limestone region ? Why ? 



2. What is the shape of the leaf? What is the color above and below? 

 What is the texture ? How is it especially fitted to float? How does it 

 look when very young? 



3. Examine the petiole. How long is it? Is it stiff enough to hold 

 up the leaf? Why does it not need to hold up the leaf? How does it 

 serve as an anchor? Cut a stem across and describe its inside structure. 

 How does this structure help it float? 



4. Examine the open flower. How many sepals? How many rows 

 of petals ? How do the stamens resemble the petals ? Can you see in the 

 water lily how the sepals, petals and stamens may all be different forms of 

 the same thing ? How are the sepals fitted to keep the flower afloat ? At 

 what times of the day does the lily open? At what hours does it close? 



