154 



ON THE NATURAL ORDER NYMPHUEACEjE. 



Of the genera Euryale and Barclaya it is unnecessary to say much ; the 

 former, a native of India, is a noble aquatic, the fleshy rhizomata of which, like 

 those of its allies, are eatable. 



Barclaya is also an Indian genus, so named by Dr. Wallich, in compliment to 

 the late Robert Barclay, Esq., of Bury Hill, a munificent patron of botany. 



All the Nymphceacece are exceedingly ornamental, and worthy of careful 

 cultivation : most of the exotic species, however, require the stove, in which 

 they succeed very well if placed in large pans of water. The greater number of 

 the species of Nymphma bear white or pink flowers ; in two only (ccerulea and 

 stellata) they are blue. The flowers of all the species of Nuphar are yellow. 



Some of the species of these plants are found in immense quantities in their 

 native countries, where their thick fleshy rhizomata and their seeds are used by 

 the inhabitants, especially in times of scarcity, as important articles of diet ; the 

 farinaceous matter contained in them affording a considerable degree of nutri- 

 ment. The rhizomata of Nuphar lutea, according to Linnseus, are used in 

 Sweden in times of scarcity, mixed with the inner bark of Pinus sylvestris, which 

 are pounded together, and made into cakes. The seeds of Nymphcea Lotus, 

 which grows in vast quantities in Lower Egypt, are said to have been used by 

 the ancient Egyptians, who dried and ground them, and made them into bread. 



To the plants belonging to this natural order a most important addition has 

 lately been made, by the discovery of that extraordinary and gigantic plant 

 Victoria Regia, which was found in Berbice by that zealous and enterprising 

 traveller and naturalist, Mr. R. H. Schomburgk. This gentleman, who is a 

 native of Germany, has been travelling for some years on account of the Royal 

 Geographical Society, assisted by Her Majesty's Government. The scene of his 

 most recent labours has been British Guayana, the natural productions of which 

 country he has been exploring with singular perseverance. The discovery of the 

 magnificent plant in question was described by Mr. Schomburgk in a communi- 

 cation transmitted to the Royal Geographical Society; and of which the 

 following is an extract :— 



" It was on the first of January this year, while contending with the diffi- 

 culties Nature imposed in different forms to our progress up the river Berbice, 

 that we arrived at a point where the river expanded, and formed a currentless 

 basin ; some object on the southern extremity of this basin attracted my atten- 

 tion ; it was impossible to form any idea what it could be, and animating the 

 crew to increase the rate of their paddling, we were shortly afterwards opposite 

 the object which had raised my curiosity — a vegetable wonder ! All calamities 

 were forgotten ; I felt as a botanist, and felt myself rewarded : a gigantic leaf, 

 from five to six feet in diameter, salver-shaped, with a broad rim, of a light- 

 green above, and a vivid crimson below, resting upon the water. Quite in 

 character with the wonderful leaf was the luxuriant flower, consisting of many 

 hundred petals, passing in alternate tints from pure white to rose and pink. 



