8 
BOTAMC1L IXDEX 
I From Prof. Gray’s “Genera of Plants.”) 
stamens and strongly resembling them, but shorter, inserted with the stamens into 
an enlargement of the receptacle under the ovary, (Fig. 78, c,) shorter than the circular, 
and sessile many-rayed peltate stigma, (Fig. 78, As.) Stamens numerous and in several 
rows, ultimately bent backwards, (recurved), persistent; fruit ovoid naked, strongly 
furrowed; berry oblong, usually ripening above water, but bursting irregularly to 
allow the smooth seed, which are imbedded in pulp, to escape; the internal structure 
as in Nymphoea, only there is no arrillus to the seed. 
The dowers appear immediately after the leaves in spring, and the plants con- 
tinue to bloom all summer, even after the frost has killed the erect leaves; and perfect 
but dwarfed flowers may be seen floating about just beneath the surface of the water, 
after the weather has become so cold in the fall that ice has already formed half an 
inch thick upon the surface of the water. The root-stocks, or rhizoma, are long, 
creeping, and growing horizontally in the mud, very similar to the Nymphoea, but 
much larger, being often found 4 inches in diameter. Fig. Cl, page 96, vol. 1, 
Botanical Index, will convey a very good idea of the rhizoma, which are easily 
distinguished from those of the Nymphcea by their larger and more robust growth, as 
well as by their being more thickly covered by a large, prominent, almost circular 
scar, left after the decay of the leaves. The leaves and flowers grow only from the 
end of the rhizoma, as in the Nymphoea, and are borne singly on long, smooth, cylin- 
drical or indefinitely triangular stems, that, like all other Water Lilies, are traversed 
their entire length by air canals. The first leaves to start in the spring never reach 
the surface of the water, but are what botanists term “submerged leaves,” that is, 
grow up a few inches, unroll or spread out, and remain stationary. They are usually 
of a bright, glossy, purple color, thin, of soft and flexible texture. The floating leaves 
are large, thick, glossy green upon the upper surface and usually violet or purple 
upon the under surface. The erect leaves are bright, shining, glossy green upon both 
the upper and under surfaces, but do not appear to differ materially from the floating 
leaves; probably their difference consists in a more robust 
leaf-stem holding the leaf erect. 
In the great economy of nature there are many uses to 
which the Nuphar are adapted. The roots are known to have 
been used by many uncivilized people for food. “The flow- 
ers of A', luteum, (Fig. 79,) have the perfume of brandy, and 
in England have received the name of ‘ Brandy Bottles.’ The 
flowers are used by the Turks in the preparation of cooling 
drinks, like sherbet. At the base of the petal is secreted on 
the receptacle a honey-like fluid. The root-stocks, bruised 
and infused in milk, are stated to be destructive to cock- 
roaches, and when burnt to be particularly obnoxious to crickets.” — ( Treas . of Botany.) 
The seed contain a large quantity of farinaceous matter, and are used in some 
countries for food. When planted in a large aquarium or pond, they make a rank 
or more vigorous growth than any other variety of aquatic plant; consequently, it 
contributes more towards purifying the water, by the large amount of oxygen sup- 
plied it and carbon absorbed from it, which is of the utmost importance to pure water 
and healthy animal life in confinement. For this reason we consider them the most 
valuable of all our hardy aquatic plants for cultivation. 
But we cannot dismiss this article without a word in reference to our illustration, 
on page 5. In the October (1878) number of the Index, we referred to ancient myth- 
ology, and its close relationship to botanical nomenclature, and for a title page to the 
article on Water Lilies in this number, our artist has prepared a happy delineation of 
the ideas there expressed. In addition to the Nuphar represented as growing in the 
water, we have in both the upper and lower left hand corners of the same illustration 
a good picture of the growing plants of Papyrnx antiqnorum. We are proud of the 
artistic design and workmanship of all our illustrations, but this one especially we 
consider faultless, and for a wood-engraving we must say that we seldom see its equal. 
