Nympheea.] flora indica. 243 



at night, and closed at 10 a.m., Ms own, from Hungary, did not. Pliny (as quoted 

 by Salisbury) says that the flowers retire under water at night. 



_ 3. N. stellata (Willd. Sp. PI. ii. 1153) ; foUis orbiculatis v. ellip- 

 tico-orbiculatis obtuse sinuato-deatatis integen-imisve, sepalis nervosis 

 (sed non costatis), petalis lineari-oblongis lanceolatisve acutis v. apice 

 angustatis, antlieris longe appendiculatis, stigmatis radiis in cornua 

 brevia productis inappendiculatis, seminibus substriatis. 



u. cya7iea ; floribus mediocribus cyaneis non aut vix odoris. — N. 

 cyanea, Roxh. M. Ind. iii. 577 ; Wight et Am. Prod. i. 17 ; Wall. Cat. 

 7253 A! et B! N. stellata, /3, Bot. Mag. t. 2058 ; Planckon, Etudes, 

 I.e. 40. 



^. panijlora ; floribus plerumque minoribus ca3ruleis. — N. stellata, 

 Willd. Sp. PL ii. 1153 ; Andr. Bot. Rep. t. 330 ; BC. Syst. ii. 51 ; Prodr. 

 i. 115 ; Wight et Am. Prod. i. 17 ; Wall. Cat. 7253 C! et E! N. stel- 

 lata, |3 ? major, Planckon, Etudes, I. e. 



y. vei-aicolor ; floribus majoribus albis cceruleis carneis pallide pur- 

 pureisve, staminibus perplurimis. — N. versicolor, Roxb. Eort. Beng. 41 ; 

 Fl. Ind. ii. 577 ; Sims, Bot. Mag. t. 1189 ; Planchon, Etudes, I. c. 39 ; 

 Wall. Cat. 7257 !; N. punctata, Edgeuo. in Linn. Soc. Trans, xx. 29. N. 

 Hookeriana, Lehmann, Ueber die Gattung Nymphma, 21 ; N. Edgevvorthii, 

 Lehm. I.e. 7. 



Hab. Per totam Indiam calidam vulgatissima.- — (Fl. per totum 

 annum.) {v. u.) 



DisTEiB. Var. u. Africa borealis ! tropica! et australis ? ; ins. Philip.! 



Folia submersa (dum adsunt) membranacea, natantia coriacea, omnia integerrima 

 V. sinuato-dentata, plerumque per totam superficiem grosse ¥. minute impresso- 

 punctata, subtus obscure maculata, rarius omuino la^via v. disco punctate ; lobis 

 acutis V. obtusis divaricatis parallelis v. incumbentibus. Flores 1-10 uuc. diametro, 

 ea!rulei, albidi, rosei, t. purpurei, in stirpibus J5gyptiacis odori, in Indicis vix odori. 

 Sepala lincari-ovata v. oblonga, petalis requilouga v. longiora, viridia, lineolis pur- 

 pureis ssepius notata, multinervia sed noQ costata. Fetala 10-30, versus apices 

 plerumque sensim acutata, interiora exemplaribus grandifloris saepe in stamina trans- 

 euntia. Stamina 10-50, 3-4-seriata, in stirpibus minoribus pauciora, longe acute 

 V. obtuse appendiculata, appendice albida v. cserulea. Pollen laeve. Stigmatis radii 

 10-30, apicibus obtusis v. in cornua longitudiue varia erecta incurva producti, inap- 

 pendiculati. 



The N. stellata, var. ft of the 'Botanical Magazine,' is referred by De Caudolle 

 (Systema) to N. carulea ; and this is the only allusion we find to an opinion we have 

 long entertained, that the Blue Water-lily of the Nile and India are (like their white 

 congener Lotus) specifically the same. The most prominent difference we find be- 

 tween them is the sweet scent of the African plant, whether wUd or cultivated, and 

 its usually more numerous petals and stamina, and, according to De Candolle, the 

 smallness of the parts of N. stellata, the leaves not being pm-ple below, its lobes 

 being divaricated, and the petals and stigmata being only eight to twelve. We have 

 had abundant proof in India, that, except the odour, not one of these characters is 

 of the smallest value. Whether the South African N. scutifolia (which has many 

 petals) and one of the two Madagascar species (also found in the Mauritius) be the 

 same, we do not venture to say, never having compared living specimens ; but we 

 find them both marked 'N. cmrulea by Planchon (in Herb. Hook.), and except in the 

 greater number of petals and stamens they do not appear to diifer from that plant, 

 to which N. scutifolia was referred by Dryander, Andrews, and Sims. 



With regard to the three varieties we have included under the Indian iV. stellata. 



