22 
BRITISH WILD FLOATERS. 
CHAPTER III. 
THE WATER-LILY FAMILY. (Nymph^ace^ Dec.) 
Character of the Order. —Sepals and petals numerous, imbri¬ 
cated, passing gradually into each other, the former persistent, the 
latter inserted upon the disk tvhich surrounds the pistillum. Stamens 
numerous, inserted above the petals into the disk ; filaments petaloid ; 
anthers adnate, bursting inwards by a double longitudinal cleft. 
Disk large, fleshy, surrounding the ovary either wholly or in part. 
Ovary many-seeded, many-celled, with the stigmas radiating from a 
common centre upon a sort of flat urceolate cup. Fruit many-celled, 
not bursting. Seeds very numerous, attached to spongy dissepiments, 
and enveloped in a gelatinous arillus. Albumen farinaceous. Embryo 
small on the outside of the base of the albumen, enclosed in a mem¬ 
branous bag ; cotyledons foliaceous. Herbs with peltate or cordate 
fleshy leaves, growing in quiet waters. ( Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —This is a very small order, the flowers of which are interesting to the student in botany, 
not only for their beauty, but for their construction. The sepals, petals, and stamens are also mixed together, 
and bear so much resemblance to each other, that in some species it is difficult to distinguish them from each 
other. The seeds are interesting, as the embryo is very small, and enclosed in a membranous bag quite distinct 
from the albumen, though both are surrounded by the outer skin of the seed. The stem of these plants is what 
is called a rhizoma, and is always below the surface of the water; while the leaves, which are large and fleshy* 
float on the top. 
GENUS I. 
THE WHITE WATER-LILY. (Ny MPHA3A, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Sepals 4. Petals and stamens numerous, inserted in a disk which surrounds the ovarium, and adheres to it. 
Stigmata radiating. (Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —The common White Water-Lily is the only species of this genus which is a native of 
Britain. The name of Nymplisea alludes to the plants belonging to the genus inhabiting the waters, as the 
Nymphs or Naiads of the ancients were supposed to do. The genus is placed in Polyandria Monogynia of 
Linnaeus ; because it has many stamens and only one capsule. 
1.— THE WHITE WATER-LILY. (Nymphzba alba, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 1G0 ; 2d ed., t. 7G5 ; and our fig. 1, Petals elliptic-oblong. Rays of the stigma sixteen, recurved. Root 
in PI. 5. horizontal. (Smith.) 
Specific Character. — Leaves heart-shaped, entire ; even beneath. | 
Description, &c. —The White Water-Lily is one of the most beautiful of the British plants, and is found 
in ponds and still waters in almost every part of England and Scotland. It has been already mentioned in 
speaking of the order, that the petals, stamens, and sepals bear a great resemblance to each other in shape in 
all the water-lilies ; but in the common White Water-Lily they are easily distinguishable by their colour. The 
flowers, when closed, show only the four sepals, which are green on the outside. The petals within these are 
much more numerous, and they are of a pure white and of a fleshy texture : in the centre of these are the 
stamens, which look, at first sight, like yellow, pointed petals ; but which will be found on examination to have 
anthers at the point, consisting of two long, narrow cells, which split open when the pollen is ripe. The stamens 
nearest the petals are the broadest, and most leaf-like in their form ; but they take more of the ordinary character 
