76 
NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
exceeded 4|- feet in diameter. I wished to obtain 
proof as to whether its duration was annual or 
perennial, but was unable to decide, although the 
evidence seemed in favour of the latter. I found 
no prostrate submerged trunk, but a thick central 
root penetrating so deep that we could not dig to 
the bottom of it with our ter^ados. This root, 
notwithstanding its size, might be annual ; but then 
every one who knew the plant assured me that the 
Forno was never wanting all the year round in that 
and other localities ; in which I afterwards found 
them to be correct ; not so, however, in their 
statement that, when the lakes and creeks rose to 
their winter level, not only did the petioles lengthen 
out to keep pace with the rising waters, but the 
floating leaves went on increasing proportionately 
in diameter, until they sometimes attained a breadth 
of 12 feet. I found, in this and other instances, 
that the measuring-tape was needed to correct the 
illusions caused by the exaggerated statements of 
others, or even by the apparent evidence of my 
own senses. 
The Water-lilies I have since seen in South 
America are certainly all of them annual ; and one 
which springs up on the savannahs of Guayaquil, 
when the winter rains transform them into lakes, 
takes only from two to three months to attain its 
full dimensions and ripen its edible seeds. 
