THE WATER LILY FAMILY. 



525 



About 50 species are enumerated of this family, being 

 cliiefiy natives of the warm regions of the Northern hemi- 

 sphere. Three are natives of Britain ; they are sparingly found 

 in South Africa, and are represented in Queensland by the 

 magnificent Nymplicea gigantea, and by Victoria regia in Tro- 

 pical America. 



Water Lily (white), Nymjphcea alba ( yellow), Nuphar lutea, 

 natives of this country, and common throughout Europe. 

 Nuphar advena is a native of North America; its seed-pods (so 

 called) are an important article of food to the Indians, who 

 collect them in large quantities and keep them for winter 

 use. Nymplicsa ccerulea, N. rubra, N. dentata, N. gigantea, 

 and others, are cultivated in the gardens of this country, 

 being well known for their beautiful flowers ; also JV. ther- 

 malis, a white flowering species found in Hu.ngary which 

 appears to be the sanie as the N. Lotus of the Nile. It is 

 common in India, where it is held sacred, likewise in Egypt, 

 where it is found rudely sculptured on the ancient idols. 



Gorgon plant {Euryale ferox). A native of India, having 

 circular leaves 2 or 3 feet in diameter, lying flat on the 

 water, being very prickly and horrid-looking on their upper 

 surface. It has prickly fruit, about the size of a smaU 

 orange, containing black seeds the size of peas, which are 

 full of albumen, and are used by the Hindoos and Chinese 

 for food. It is said to have been cultivated in China for 

 upwards of three thousand years. 



Victoria Lily {Victoria regia). This remarkable plant was 

 first discovered by a German botanist in 1801, afterwards 

 by several others in different parts of Tropical America. It 

 was not, hoAvever, brought into special notice till discovered 

 by Sir E. Schomburgk in British Guiana in 1837, and intro- 

 duced at the Eoyal Gardens, Kew, in 1847. On account of 

 its remarkable appearance it has yearly excited public curi- 

 osity. In its native country it is a perennial, having a long 

 under-water rhizomat, like the white water lily. In this 

 country it seldom lives through the winter, but is readily 

 grown from seeds each year. The plant consists of a crown 



