132 WATER-LILIES 



flowers are looked at from above. Ordi- 

 narily the widely opening kinds are to be 

 preferred, as water-lilies have generally to 

 be viewed from some distance. And in 

 this group there is no odour to invite a closer 

 inspection. 



Only the white night blooming water-lilies 

 can be relied upon to come true to seed. 

 Our reds and pinks are all hybrids, and will 

 produce a great variety of tints from seed. 

 Of course there is a pure red species, Nym- 

 phcea rubra, from which the hybrids have 

 derived their colour. Regarding this Dr. 

 Conard writes, "in spite of the offerings in 

 catalogues, I am convinced that the true N. 

 rubra is not in America. Its home is in India. 

 Will not some one import a pure strain } " 



For the curiosity seeker, we must mention 

 here an odd species from South America, the 

 Amazon water-lily {Nymphcea Amazonum; 

 known in the trade as N. ampla). It needs 

 the same treatment as those just described, 

 though requiring a little more heat. The 

 leaves are bright green, smooth edged, and of 



