the inner ones yellow, and bent inwards ; the outermost gradually 
wider, and resembling the inner petals. Anthers (see pi. 2. f. 1, e.) 
yellow, strap-shaped, 2-celled, attached, in their whole length, to 
the inner surface of the upper part of the filament. Germen (pi. 2. 
f. 2, 6.) roundish, closely covered by a fleshy disk or torus, upon 
which the petals and stamens are inserted. Style none. Stigma 
(pi. 2. f. 2, c ) rayed, rays ascending. Berry (pi. 2. f. 3.) when full 
grown nearly 2 inches in diameter, spherical, warted with the 
remains of the petals and filaments, and crowned by the perma- 
nent, radiated stigma, like the fruit of the poppy. Seeds (see pi. 2. 
f. 4.) numerous in each cell, roundish, smooth, shining, having a 
very blunt angle on one side. The Berry does not open, but, sink- 
ing to the bottom of the water, gradually decays, scattering its 
seeds in the mud. 
Of all our native plants, the flower of the White Water Lilv is 
the most magnificent ; in size, beauty, and elegance of its corolla, 
it may vie with many of the finest Magnolias of America ; and its 
delicate and pure white petals are little inferior to those of the 
Night-blowing Cereus. It has indeed, altogether, more the air and 
character of a native of the tropics, than of Britain, and the colder 
parts of Europe. This lovely plant is seen nowhere in greater per- 
fection than in the vicinity of Oxford ; here it may be observed, 
in the months of June, July, and August, spreading its broad 
leaves over the surface of the water in almost every pond, deep 
watery ditch, and slow river, and expanding its flowers to the sun 
with a lustre which “ Solomon, in all his glory,” never equalled. 
The CherwellJ, in particular, is celebrated for its Lilies, and, 
during their season of flowering, they may be seen in great abund- 
ance, and beauty, in the upper stream of that river, just beyond 
King’s Mill, in St. Clement’s. But I never saw them in such pro- 
fusion as I did last year (1835), about 8 or 9 miles higher up the 
river, a little beyond Tlirup, on the left hand side of the towing- 
path going towards Shipton ; and again, about a mile beyond 
Shipton, where the river winds off to the left from the canal §. 
There they may truly be said to be the “ Delight of the Waters || 
for, on a sunny day, thousands of expanded blossoms may be seen 
resting their “ pearly cups” on the surface of the stream, as far as 
the eye can reach. 
These elegant flowers, like those of the sacred Lotos of the Nile, ('Nymptuea 
Lotus, Linn, and Curt. But. Mag. t. 797 .), “ arise and expand in the morning, 
as the sun gains iis ascendency, close towards evening, and in that state either 
repose through the night reclining on the bosom of the water, or actually sunk 
beneath its surface, till revived by the return of day, wheu” 
‘ Conscious of the earliest beam, 
She rises from her humid rest, 
And sees reflected in the stream 
The virgin whiteness of her breast.’ — Mrs. C. Smith. 
t This river runs close on the E. of Oxford, passes under Magdalen Bridge, 
and joins the Isis at the bottom of Christ Church Meadow. 
$ It was from these parts of the Cherweil that Mr. VV. Turner, of Oxford, 
made his two beautiful paintings ©f Water Lilies. One of these delightful pic- 
tures, taken from a view near 1’hrup, in a pait of the river called Tlirup Wide, 
is in the possession of Mrs. L’earce, of Beaumont -street, Oxford ; the other, from 
a view higher up the river, is now (April 30, 1H36,) in the Exhibition at the 
Gallery, Ball Mall East, London. 
|| Hie Indian name of the Water Lily is Cumuda, or Delight of the Waters . 
