THE NIGHT BLOOMING WATER-LILIES I3I 



its flower is the white night lotus {Nymphcea 

 Lotus). Horticulturally its chief virtue is its 

 great fecundity. Both lotus and dentata 

 bear big balls of seed in great profusion. 

 And their hybrids inherit this character in 

 more or less completeness. The petal of 

 lotus is broad and concave, the outside often 

 tinted with pink. The flower opens only to 

 a cup-shape. Nymphcea thermalis is identical 

 with Nympheea Lotus. 



From these we may pass to Jubilee, of a 

 delicate pinkish white colour, and on to 

 Smithiana, with slightly more pink; delica- 

 tisstma, light pink; Deaniana, deep pink; 

 Kewensis, a little paler than Sturtevantii. 



With the flower colour goes a bronzy tint 

 of the leaves. The leaves of delicatissima 

 show a distinct metallic tint, which in Kewen- 

 sis reaches a definite bronze. In shape of 

 flower, delicatissima resembles dentata: it 

 opens widely, and the petals are narrow. 

 The other three have broad ovate petals, 

 which only open to form a cup-shaped flower. 



The cup-shape is only desirable when the 



