15 



THE LOTUS OF THE NEW WORLD. 



Nelumbixjm luteum, Willd. 



At Hope Gardens there is now flowering a very remarkable and beau- 

 tiful water lily — the Lotus of the New World. 



It is a native of Jamaica and the United States, the only other spe- 

 cies of this genius (Nelumbium speciosum) the Sacred Lotus, being a 

 native of the tropics of the Old World. 



Both species agree in the peculiar seed vessel, which was compared 

 by Herodotus to a wasp's nest. It is formed by the ovary becoming 

 very much enlarged after the fall of the petals ; it is funnel-shaped but 

 solid. In the flat top of this receptacle there are numerous cavities 

 sunk, in each of which is a large bean or seed. The seeds are loose and 

 rattle in their holes, but cannot fall out as the top of the cavity is- 

 smaller than the seed itself. 



The colour of the flower of the native species is a light yellow, that 

 of the Sacred Lotus being rose or white. 



The leaves are somewhat saucer-shaped, with the'stock coming from 

 the centre below, and do not float on the water but are carried up above 

 the surface. The Hindoos have a proverb to the effect that " the good 

 and virtuous man is not enslaved by passion or polluted by vice ; for 

 though he may be immersed in the waters of temptation, yet like a lo- 

 tus leaf he will rise uninjured by them." The spiral fibres found in the 

 leaf stalks are used as wicks in the temples of India to burn before the 

 images of the gods. The leaves themselves are employed as plates on 

 which sacred offerings are placed. 



The Sacred Lotus also obtained a place in the religious ceremonies of 

 the ancient Egyptians. " Sculptured representations of it abound 

 among the ruins of the temples, and many other circumstances prove 

 the veneration paid to this plant by the votaries of Isis." 



The root-stocks and seeds of both species have been used as food, and 

 various parts medicinally. 



Dr. Patrick Browne in his " Civil and Natural History of Jamaica," 

 published in A. D. 1756, says, " this plant is pretty common in the la- 

 goons beyond the Ferry ; but I have not observed it in any of the deeper 

 waters. It seems to grow best in a loose, boggy ground, where the 

 leaves may stand in open air, while the roots, and lower part of the stem 

 are plentifully supplied with moisture." 



It does not se-em to have been found by later botanists until the year 

 1847. Svvartz, Bertero, McNab, Purdieand Macfadyen frequently visit- 

 ed the locality mentioned by Browne but failed to come across it. Dr. 

 Macfadyen however had it brought to him, as he states. in a pamphlet 

 printed (but not published) in 1847, "early in August, James Dundas, 

 Esq., (the manager of Taylor's ( 'aymanas Estate) in carrying out some 

 improvements connected with the draining of the land ot that property 

 in the vicinity of the lagoon, unexpectedly came upon this beautiful 

 plant, and as he had on former occasions assisted in the kindest manner 

 our searches for the plant he immediately concluded that he had at 

 length alighted on what he had been so long in search of- He collected 

 the specimens of the flowers and other parts of the plant, and brought 

 them to my residence in Kingston. I doubt not every cultivator of our 



