CHAPTER IX 

 The Night Blooming Water-lilies 



The night blooming water-lilies, which 

 we may properly term the lotos group, open 

 the flowers between 7 and 8 p. m., and 

 they remain open until from nine to one 

 o'clock of the following day. Each flower 

 does this on three successive nights. These 

 are therefore preeminently the busy man's 

 water-lilies; the proper kinds for the suburban 

 dweller who is away from home and garden 

 throughout the day. 



They are all tender. In habit they re- 

 semble their day-flowering relatives. The 

 leaves are numerous and mostly large — ^up 

 to two feet across — and lie flat on the 

 water. 



A single plant will cover a space ten or 

 twelve feet square. Yet they get on well 

 in smaller quarters. We know of a red one 

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