BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
23 
of stamens as they approach the centre of the flower. In the American species, indeed, they lose their leaf-like 
character altogether. The leaves are broad, and so deeply cordate as to make the leaf-stalk appear attached 
to the centre of the blade. The rhizoma, or under-water stem, is fleshy, and is said to be used in the Highlands 
of Scotland to dye a brown or deep chestnut colour; it was also formerly used in medicine. In some places, where 
it grows in thick mud, it has been known to attain the thickness of a man’s arm. The flower opens about seven 
o’clock in the morning, and closes about four in the afternoon ; reopening again the following day. The bud forms 
below the water, and does not rise to the surface till it is ready to expand ; and thus, only leaves may be seen on 
a pond one day, and it may be covered with flowers the next. The Germans call this plant the sea rose. 
The graceful manner in which the Water-Lily appears to repose on the surface of the water, has rendered it 
a great favourite with the poets ; but no lines that have been addressed to it are more elegant than the 
following by Mrs. Hemans :— 
“ O beautiful thou art, 
Thou sculpture-like and stately river queen, 
Crowning the depths, as with the light serene 
Of a pure heart ! 
Bright Lily of the wave ! 
Rising in fearless grace with every swell, 
Thou seem’st as if a spirit meekly brave 
Dwelt in thy cell.” 
It was formerly supposed that the Water-Lily sank below the surface of the water at night, and remained 
there until the following morning, and Moore alludes to this belief in his well-known lines :— 
“Those virgin Lilies all the night, 
Bathing their beauties in the lake, 
That they may rise more fresh and bright, 
When their beloved sun’s awake.” 
The fact is, that the Water-Lily folds up its flowers when the sun goes down, and opens them again in the 
morning; but this is all, and it is by no means peculiar to the Water-Lily, as many other pdants close their 
flowers at night, and expand them again in the morning. 
This species is quite different from the common White Water-Lily of North America, (N. odorata, Lin.) 
which is very fragrant; and the stamens of which, though they have leafy filaments, have distinct anthers. 
The flowers are also smaller and less beautiful. The British White Water-Lily is very common in gardens, but 
it is not changed by cultivation. 
GENUS II. 
THE YELLOW WATER-LILY. (Nuphah, Smith.) 
Lyn. Syst. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. — Sepals 5-6. Petals 10-18, inserted along with the numerous stamens into a disk which surrounds the base of the 
ovarium. Stigmata radiating. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c. —This genus was included by Linmeus in Nympliasa, but it has been separated from it on 
account of the receptacle, or disk, being confined to its natural situation, instead of rising so as to enclose the 
seed-vessel, as in Nympluea. The flowers are all yellow. Nuphar is the Arabic name of the Water-Lily. 
