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PAXTON'S FLOWER GARDEN. 



nearly conceal. The stigmatic apparatus consists of fifteen papillose rays, which are free and smooth 

 at their extremities, curved inwards and fleshy, surrounding a central nipple ; as in Nympliaa alba 

 and others. To these extremities it is desirable that anatomists should direct their attention, 

 inasmuch as their peculiar construction indicates some very peculiar function. In NympJia°a alba 

 they are deep yellow, firm like wax, with a strong even epiderm, and are filled with a soft loose 

 cellular substance, containing an abundance of large coarse scabrous hairs, sometimes half circular, 

 sometimes straight, all placed parallel with the external surface. They are evidently analogous 

 to the scabrous hairs so abundant in the air cells of Nymphsea. The yellow ends of the stigmatic 

 rays of Nuphar do not contain this tissue. ]\ T or is there anything in Yictoria, much as that plant 

 abounds in stellate internal hairs, which is identical with the extremities of the stigmatic apparatus 

 of Nymphaea. 



Other peculiarities are observable among water-lilies, and are, it must be supposed, connected with 

 their vital functions, although we know not in what way. The pollen, for instance, varies greatly in 

 some of the genera. In Nymphaia rubra it is simple, globose, and perfectly smooth ; in Nymjokcea alba 

 it is similar, but the surface is slightly rough. In the yellow water-lily (Nup/iar luted), on the 

 contrary, it is covered with such long points that the pollen-grains hold together in masses, like burs. 

 On the other hand in Victoria, where the pollen is much larger, the grains are perfectly smooth and 

 constantly grow together in threes or fours. 



In the Crimson Water-lily the leaves are closely covered on the underside with a soft felt of 

 delicate hairs, which are quite perceptible to the touch. Examined with the microscope the hairs 

 are found to be simple attenuated smooth cones, with no tendency to branch or become stellate. 

 Not a trace is perceptible on the leaf of those curious perforations in Victoria which have been 

 mistaken for stomates, but which in reality are passages through the thickness of the leaf, and are 

 altogether, as far as we know, mi generis. We may as well take the present opportunity of saying of 

 these perforations that instead of being stomates, which are also present in Victoria, they are formed 

 by a depression of two corresponding points of the upper and under surface of the leaf, and are at 

 first closed by a transverse membrane. After a short time this membrane disappears, and a clear 

 passage through the leaf is thus effected. Possibly this contrivance may be intended to allow the 

 air to escape upwards, that would otherwise collect below the under surface of the leaves in Victoria 

 in the spaces included by its deep ribs, and thus prevent that contact of water which may be assumed 

 to be necessary to the health of that extraordinary aquatic. 



