70 
BOTANICAL, INDEX 
NELUMBIUM. 
[Hcecmb llaper.] 
;0 one can help admiring the so-called Water Lilia*, 
as they are seen growing in their native luxuri- 
ance in the small iakes, ponds, bayous, and slow 
running streams, principally in the northern 
hemisphere, from the tropics to as far north as 
50° north latitude, for there is a certain grandeur 
and beauty about them that merits the admiration 
of all lovers of the beautiful. There is not 
only an extremely beautiful and fairy-like association con- 
nected with the Water Lilies, but throughout all tropical 
and sub-tropical Asia, and the Pacific Islands, there is a 
sacred mythical reverence connected with them which adds 
a peculiar charm to their study, and usually a desire for 
students of nature to possess some of the varieties. 
We cannot now recall a single family of plants that has 
been honored with so appropriate a name as this one — the 
Nymphceaceoe, of Linnaeus — the fairy Goddess of Water, 
daughter of Heaven, one of the most loved and honored of 
all the ancient mythical deities. 
It has been our good fortune to admire them in their 
native element, standing out from the still blue water like 
ideal fairies, or Water Nymphs, without a sound to break 
the mysterious awe of reverence so sure to take possession 
of all students of nature when left alone to their reveries. 
It is then that one does not wonder at the divine attributes 
paid to a great unknown creator, through some of his love- 
liest creations, by the heathen of by-gone ages. All the 
plants known to 'the unscientific observer as Water Lilies, 
are more or lest beautiful, even when taken singly and 
away from their habitat, but some species are really 
gorgeous. Of course, the nearer we approach the tropics 
the more perfect is their form and growth, until at last 
perfection seems to have been reached in the wonderful 
Victoria Begin, from Guinea. But even in the temperate 
zone, Water Lilies are among the choicest products of nature. 
;Hli 
