Hardy hyerid water-lilies. 
28? 
HARDY HYBRID WATER-LILIES. 
By Mons. R. Latour Marliac. 
[August 9, 1898.] 
In order to keep within my subject, which is only to talk to you 
about the grand results obtained by crossing the native Water- 
lilies of the northern and temperate regions with those of th6 
tropics (results which open up a new and beautiful method of 
decorating pieces of water), I shall refrain from giving a very 
detailed or complete history of the numerous original species of 
natural origin, which are sufficiently described in botanical 
works, more especially as these original species are destined, for 
the most part, to be relegated in the future to collections that are 
entirely scientific, and will disappear from ornamental collections, 
to which they will not be admitted on account of their manifest 
inferiority. 
Several years at least have passed away since the lakes and 
pools of equatorial countries alone had the privilege of exhibiting 
a wonderful clothing of many-coloured Water-lilies, principally 
night-flowering—the charming and lesser stars of the waters, 
looked at only by the innumerable stars of the heavens which 
came out each night and bathed their sparkling light by the side of 
their elegant petals. Formerly all countries outside the tropics, 
and notably those of the European continent, only had for their 
share, as the principal objects of decoration in aquatic flowers, 
some few yellow Nuphars and white Nymphgeas—very pretty, it 
is true, but too much alike to excite any violent rapture over 
their cultivation. 
Amongst the number of typical Nymphseas I will only 
mention the following :—N. alba, indigenous to Europe ; N. 
pygmasa alba, of Northern Asia ; N. odorata alba, from North 
America ; N. odorata rosea, also from America (the Cape Cod 
Water-lily), which being crossed one by one with those which 
originated in the tropics or thereabouts, such as the Indian N. 
rubra and its descendants, N. devoniensis, N. Ortgiesiana rubra, 
N. flava, from Florida ; N. mexicana, from Mexico, &c., have 
become the foundation of the wonderful series of many-coloured 
hybrids which, whilst inheriting from their paternal side the 
