343 FLORA INDICA. {Nymphaacecs , 



similar to all the figures quoted above. It is quite impossible to reconcile the de- 

 scriptious of authors with all the plants we ha?e brought under N. Lotus, whether in 

 a state of nature, cultivation, or in the Herbarium. Be Candolle describes N. Lotus, 

 ^uIl'scc'iis, and rubra, as distinct species, but gives no diagnostic character, escept the 

 spots of the leaves of iV. fuhescens, which we do not find to be constant even on in- 

 dividuals. Andrews (Bot. Ecp.) says of N. rubra that it is allied to N. Lotus, but 

 is certainly specifically distinct in the colour of the flowers. Sims, in the ' Bota- 

 nical Magazine,' figures N. rubra, var. rosea, with spotted leaves ; and De Candolle 

 quotes the plate under his N. rubra, whose diagnostic character is " foliis immacu- 

 latis." Lehmann (Ueber die Gattung Kympha^a) enumerates N. Lotus of Roxburgh's 

 ' Flora Indica' as the plant of linna;us, and retains also N. rubra, Roxb., 3.T\d.pubes- 

 £?^«^, Willd., as distinct; whereas Plancbon, who publishes, in the same year with 

 Lehmann, his ' Etudes sur les Nympheacees,' quotes N. Lotus, Roxb., under L. pu- 

 bescens, "Willd., and keeps N. Lotus, L., and N, rubra, Roxb., distinct; he also 

 quotes the var. rosea under rubra, but remarks its spotted leaves. Wight and Ar- 

 uott distinguish N. pubescens, "Willd., from N. rubra, Roxb., by its spotted leaves 

 and white flowers. Plancbon lays some stress upon the colour of the stamens; these, 

 however, vary from white to red, with often au orange-yellow shade, and when much 

 pollen is scattered about, they appear still more ycUow, whence probably the yellow 

 stamens of Might's figure. Roxburgh says of N. Lotus, that it differs from N. rubra 

 in the colour of the flowers only, which are white or pink, and yet he describes a 

 variety of rubra as having rose-coloured flowers. These contradictory statements 

 are of themselves suggestive of all belonging to one species ; and that such is the 

 case we are perfectly satisfied, after an attentive study of all the states, living and 

 dried. 



"With regard to Edgeworth's N. sagittata, it is founded on a young leaf of iV. 

 rubra : we have from Assam a perfectly similar leaf attached to the same rhizome 

 with an older leaf of the ordinary form. In Royle's Herbarium we find one speci- 

 men labelled " iV. Lotus, rosea, wA pubescens" indicating that these are considered 

 one species by him; and another specimen, called '^N. Lotus Jiore rubro," is Roxbm'gh's 

 N. rubra. "\Yith regard to the N. Devoniensis of the ' Botanical Magazine,' it is a 

 common Bengal state of N. rubra, as described by Roxburgh, and not, as some sup- 

 pose, a hybrid. AVe have most carefuUy compared the Indian plant with many 

 African specimens of N. Lotus, from the Nile, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, and con- 

 fidently pronounce them the same, as indeed Roxburgh supposed. Plancbon charac- 

 terizes the Egyptian variety of N. Lotus as having all the anthers shorter than the 

 filaments, but this is certainly not the case in Damietta specimens. Under N. pu- 

 bescens, Willd., he says that, except by the locality, it is diSicult to distinguish it 

 from N. Lotus, but that, whereas the dense pubescence is constant in N. pubescens, 

 it is accidental in N. Lotus ; this appears to us to be saying, in other words, that one 

 of these is an accidental variety of the other, for if it varies in pubescence in Egypt, 

 and is always pubescent in India, we cannot avoid the conclusion that the pubescent 

 state is the typical. 



Lehmann's N. semistcrilis is the common form of the N. Lotus of Linufeus and 

 Roxburgh, as we ascertained on collecting it ; nor can we doubt that Waldstein 

 and Kilaibel were right in referring the Hungarian plant to N. Lotus, from which it 

 does not appear to be distinguished by any character of importance. To ourselves, 

 indeed, it appears very remarkable that it should not differ as a strongly marked va- 

 riety at least, considering that Hungary is far north of its usual habitat, and that it 

 is dependent on the thermal springs for its existence. "We have very carefully com- 

 pared dried specimens and the plate with our Indian and Egyptian plant. We have 

 not seen other authentic specimens of N. edulis, DC, than those in Wallich's Her- 

 barium. 



Plancbon says of the section Lotus, " anthesi nocturna.'' This is a subject re- 

 quiring investigation. In India we have found N. Lotus expanded during the day, 

 but cannot say whether the weather had any influence. Sims (Bot. Mag.) states that, 

 though the Marquis of Blandford's specimens and those in Keiv Gardens blossomed 



