154 
FLOWERS OF THE SEASON 
unappreciative pronounce odourless, in addition to 
having unfortunately missed their fleeting charm of 
fragrance. The leaves of the Scented Water Lily are 
small, round, and daintily cleft to the centre, and are 
never so abundant as to cover the surface of the water 
with a matted carpet of vegetation. The stems of the 
leaves are slender, and the eye delights in following 
their graceful yellow spirals through the still, clear 
water to the sandy ridges of the bottom. This quiet, 
almost retiring, sister of the Lilies seems to prefer the 
more remote waters where only the most ardent 
votaries of nature will seek her. It may be that she 
has been driven away from the haunts of civilisation 
by the destructive eagerness of the thoughtless to 
grasp and possess. 
