WATER-LILY FAMILY. 



NYMPH^ACEtE. 



Yellow Pond-Lily, Nuphar advena. 



Cow Lily. 



Spatter-dock. 



Found in still and shallow water from June to September. 



The leaves and flowers, on their long, smooth stems, rise to the 

 surface of the water from the submerged root. 



The leaf is large (from 6 to 1 2 inches in length), of a long oval 

 shape, heart-shaped at the base, and blunt-pointed at the tip, with an 

 entire margin ; its fibre is tough and leathery, and its surface exceed- 

 ingly smooth and shining. Its color is a strong light green, lighter 

 underneath. The stem is large and half-cylindrical; the leaf floats on 

 the water, or rises above it. 



The large flower is almost spherical in form, with 6 large, rounded, 

 concave, petal-like parts, somewhat unequal in size ; the 3 smaller parts 

 are green without, and a dull reddish-orange color within ; the other 3 

 lai'ger parts are yellow, with small green patches at the base. The 

 large pistil is marked on the top with a 12- or 24-pointed star, the rays 

 of which are yellow on an orange-red ground. The stamens are many, 

 like loops of yellow ribbon which curl back and almost entirely fill 

 the hollo^v flower-cup. The. stem is large, round, and green, and the 

 flower rises above the level of the water. 



A flower of primitive type ; the combination of yellow and red in 

 the star design of the pistil is suggestive of Egyptian color and design. 

 The half-round leaf-stem with its flat grooved side is an unusual 

 variation on the common form. 



36 



