AQUATICS 
167 
Papyrus. 
and have numerous petals of the tenderest rosy pink. A North 
American species, N. luteum, has yellow flowers. 
The Nymphasas, or water-lilies, are a more numerous class, and 
in ordinary gardens they constitute, because of their convenient 
size, the most important group of tender aquatic plants. Nymphcea 
Lotus is one of the plants represented on the ancient Egyptian sculp- 
tures. Both the species and several of its varieties are grown in the 
tanks at Kew ; some have red, some white flowers. N. gigantea 
is an Australian species, and the finest of all water-lilies, its blue 
flowers being one foot across. Another species, with beautifully blue 
flowers, is N. stellata ; its numerous varieties are found in the tropical 
waters of the Old World. A yellow-flowered species {Nymphcea 
flava) is a native of North America. 
An aquatic plant of supreme interest and beauty is the papyrus 
{Cyperus Papyrus), which is so abundant on the banks of the 
Upper Nile. There is no plant in Kew more striking 
or more beautiful than the fine papyrus growing in 
No. 15 House which is seen in our illustration. Its tall slender 
stems are crowned with a ring of slender, drooping leaves. The 
stems of this plant furnished the papyrus of the ancients. Some 
papyrus documents taken from Egyptian tombs are in No. II. 
Museum. 
Other interesting aquatic plants to be seen at Kew are the lattice- 
leaf plant of Madagascar ( Ouvirandra fenestralis), whose submerged 
leaves are simply a network of vascular tissue like the skeletonised 
leaves of common trees ; Euryale ferox, an ally of the Victoria regia, 
but smaller, and a native of India ; Eichornea crassipes, the floating 
plant whose buoyancy is due to the inflation of the lower part of 
the leaf-stalks; and various other floating plants like Salvinia and 
Azolla. 
Besides the aquatic plants, No. 15 House contains a varied collec- 
tion of tropical plants. The climbers are the most noteworthy, 
especially those of the gourd family, whose fruits not 
only assume very fantastic forms, but are frequently 
brilliantly coloured. Seen at its best, which is from 
June to September, this house gives a singularly charming and un- 
hackneyed presentation of hothouse gardening. 
In the other aquatic house, No. 10, the side shelves are occupied 
chiefly by large bromeliads. On the roof there is frequently to be 
Houses 10 
and 15 . 
