ancient Egyptian Lotus ( Nymphnea Lotus ) and the Indian Nym- 
phaea rubra is said to be coming'led in this plant, although there 
is some doubt as to the identity of the former parent. This plant 
is one of the night bloomers. During the month of September it 
has commenced to open about seven in the evening on a clear day, 
and by eight o'clock the flowers are fully expanded. By noon of 
the following day its flowers are completely closed. 
Nymphaea Bisseti is another beautiful night bloomer at the 
northwest corner of the north pool. When fully open it measures 
from eight to ten inches in diameter, with petals of a beautiful 
rose color, the outermost of a somewhat deeper shade. In the 
month of September it begins to open about six o’clock and by 
eight o’clock in the evening it is fully open. By noon of the 
following day it has again closed. The majority of the other 
forms in this pool are day bloomers. 
From a morphological point of view the leaves of some of 
these hybrids, e.g. N. Daubeuiana in the southeast corner, are 
interesting in that they exhibit a remarkable reproductive power, 
comparatively rare in leaves in general. Just at the point where 
the leafstalk joins the blade, a new plant forms, with roots, a 
short stem, and even flower buds. The cultivator experiences no 
difficulty in rapidly increasing his stock of the varieties that 
exhibit this peculiarity. 
The south pool, as already noted, contains our own native 
white water lily and the common European species, although the 
form of European lily growing at the northwest corner of the pool 
is a horticultural variety. All the forms in this pool are more or 
less closely related to these two species, and one may see at a 
glance that they form an entirely different group from those in the 
north pool. Many of the beautiful hybrids here were originated 
by the famous French plant breeder, Latour-Marliac, from 1888 
to 1900. His methods, according to Bailey’s “Encyclopaedia of 
Horticulture,” remain a mystery. They are all hardy and peren- 
nial, while those of the north pool must be reset from year to 
year. Although they lack the rare exotic loveliness of the tropical 
forms they nevertheless have a modest beauty of their own. At 
the south end of the pool may be found two forms of Nelumbo 
which are now through flowering, and are holding their fruits 
high in the air in their characteristic manner. Nelumbo lutea is 
the American species, with sulphur yellow flowers, while N . alba 
grandiflora is a horticultural variety of the East Indian Lotus with 
large white flowers. 
If the visitor is interested in the Lotus he should by all means 
see the vigorous colony of East Indian Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera,va. 
the lake by the Japanese Garden. A few examples of its enormous 
pink blooms are still with us even at this late date, but its most 
prominent features at present are the striking seed pods, their 
perforated tops reminding one somewhat of gigantic salt shakers. 
These pods have great decorative value and may be seen artifici- 
ally colored, in florists’ stores associated with other dried plant 
