iiARDY HYBRID WATER-LILIES. 



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HARDY HYBRID WATER-LILIES. 

 By Mons. R. Latoue Makliac. 

 [August 9, 1898.] 



In order to keep within my subject, which is only to talk to you 

 about the grand results obtained by crossing the native Water- 

 lilies of the northern and temperate regions with those of the 

 tropics (results which open up a new and beautiful method of 

 decorating pieces of water), I shall refrain from giving a very 

 detailed or complete history of the numerous original species of 

 natural origin, which are sufficiently described in botanical 

 works, more especially as these original species are destined, for 

 the most part, to be relegated in the future to collections that are 

 entirely scientific, and will disappear from ornamental collections, 

 to which they will not be admitted on account of their manifest 

 inferiority. 



Several years at least have passed away since the lakes and 

 pools of equatorial countries alone had the privilege of exhibiting 

 a wonderful clothing of many-coloured Water-lilies, principally 

 night-flowering — the charming and lesser stars of the waters, 

 looked at only by the innumerable stars of the heavens which 

 came out each night and bathed their sparkling light by the side of 

 their elegant petals. Formerly all countries outside the tropics, 

 and notably those of the European continent, only had for their 

 share, as the principal objects of decoration in aquatic flowers, 

 some few yellow Nuphars and white Nymphaeas — very pretty, it 

 is true, but too much alike to excite any violent rapture over 

 their cultivation. 



Amongst the number of typical Nymphseas I will only 

 mention the following : — N. alba, indigenous to Europe ; N. 

 pygmsea alba, of Northern Asia ; N. odorata alba, from North 

 America ; N. odorata rosea, also from America (the Cape Cod 

 Water-lily), which being crossed one by one with those which 

 originated in the tropics or thereabouts, such as the Indian N. 

 rubra and its descendants, N. devoniensis, N. Ortgiesiana rubra, 

 N. flava, from Florida ; N. mexicana, from Mexico, &c, have 

 become the foundation of the wonderful series of many- coloured 

 hybrids which, whilst inheriting from their paternal side the 



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