Tribe 14. The Theater 0/ Plants. Chap,29. 1251 
decay rifeth up a (mall head,which growing greater becomraeth fhe fcede veflell,noc much unlike unto the other 
as bigge as a good Medlar,parted on the infidc into cels long wife, containing round feede like unto thofe of CoIe*» 
worts, the rootc is not tuberous as the former,but fmall round and almoft peere fafhion, of the bignefle o( an hens 
Egge,blackc on the outfidc and yellowifli within,with many fmall fibres thereat, the inner fubftance being flefhy 
firme and hard, fomewhat fweete and binding withal 1,which when it is boy led, or rotted under. Embers, becom- 
meth as yellow as the yolkeof an egge,which the Egyptians familiarly cate with broth or withour,ra w alfo often- 3 
times, as well as roafted^his lofeth both leaves and ftalkcs after leede time,elpecially upon the decay ofthewa-. 
ter wherein it joyed,the roote abiding in the ground,which thereupon was called annualfbuc I would rather call 
it reftible. 
3. Nymph&a alba minor t The leffer white Water Lilly. 
T his letter Water Lilly differeth nor from the former, but in the fmallncfle both of roore and leafe, and in the 
fingleneffe of the flower,which confilleth but of five fmall and pointed leaves,fpread open and laid abroad^ with 
yellow thredsin the middle, and fmall heads with fmall feede in them. 
4. Nymph£aalba minima qn£ & CMorJtu ranavocatnr . 
Small white Watet Lilly,called by many Frogge bit. 
The rootc of Frogge bit is long and creeping, let full of joynts, fending downe from thence long fibres, and 
whereat fpring divers fmall round leaves very like the Iaft fmall water Lilly, but much fmaller^rom which rife 
alfo other ftalkes,bearing on each head one fmall white flower,made of three fmall and round pointed leaves with 
fome yellow threds in the middle: the heads and feede are fmall. This is in all the parts neercr refembling che 
Iaft white Water Lilly ,then any pond weede, whereof fome have made it a Jpecies , and therefore I have placed 
it with them. 
5. Nymph£aluteamajor. The great yellow Warcr Lilly. 
This greater yellow fort groweth much like the great whire, with leaves almoft as large as they, but fome- 
what longer,and (landing on cornered ftalkes,the (lowers alio that (land on the toppesof thecreftcd (hikes,arc 
not (o thicke of leaves as the white (although Lngdttnenfs doth Co deferibe it,and giveth a figure anf werable) in 
any that ever I faw,but made of five large round (hining yellow leaves, with a round greene head in the middle, 
compalled with yellow threds, which head when it is ripe,containeth within it greater feede then thofe of the 
white, and more {Lining ; the rootc is great and very like unto the former, yet not blackiih, but fomewhat whi* 
ti(L on the outfide as well as within j each of them being fomewhat fweete in tafte,and this more foofe or lponov 
then it. 1 b/ 
6. Nymphxa minor Itttea. The fmaller yellow Water Lilly. 
The leaves hereof are round, but larger then thofe of the leffer white fort,and fo are the flowers larger alfo, but 
yellow: the roote hath many firings fattened to a bigge head,and tafteth hotter then the other. 
7> Nymphxa lutea ftoreminore, Small yellow Water Lilly with leffer flowers. 
There is no other difference betweene this and the laft,but in the fmallncfle both of leaves and flowers,the roote 
groweth with long (fringes ftrongly fattened into the mudde, 
The Place and Time. 
All thefe forts except the fecond are found growing with us in fundry places of the Land, fome in great pooles 
and handing waters,and fometimes in flow running Rivers,other in leffer ditches of water, as the Frogge bit in 
many ditches about London ell as in the ditches on the Banckes fide, in Saint Georges fieldes. They flower 
molt commonly before the end of Maj 3 or foone afrer,and their feede is ripe in esfugujl. 
The Names . 
v[A$aid.jn Greekc, and Nymphaain Latine, cjuodlocaacjuofa amet, be thechiefe appellations ofthefe plants 
with their fcverall adjundls, oCalba and Itttea ,white and yellow, andcalled Nenuphar in che Apothecaries (hops 
yet hath it alfo divers other names by divers Authours: A pule us calling it CATater Hercttlanx Algapalufly^ p a l 
paver palufire Clav m Veneris and Digitus Veneris ,and Marccllm an old Writer, faith it was* called Clava Her- 
and Baditin in French, but the French at this time call it Blatte deaue , and LU deft arc, the ^Arabians Nila~ 
jar and A in far, the Italians Nmfea, the Spaniards Efcttdettes delrio and Higos d.lrio, the Germanes Seeblumen 
and rajer Dutch Plonye*, an d we Water Lilly. There hath heene great comraveriies among the’ 
learned Herbarifts,whether this Njmph £ a be not the Lotus tsFgyptia of Diofcorides and Theophraftus, becaule the 
aelcnptionofthe one fo neerely refembleth the other, which made Clujiue confident, upon ssHpimubb AI lega¬ 
tions,in his Booke ck pUrni,^E S y pt i no determine them both one, when as there is Ihewed two maine d.'ff rei - 
CCS in them.be,ides that D tofcoridcs AcUnbcth them both in two feverall Chapters, the one in the roote, that the 
iMw rootc was callea and was round of thebignefieof a Quince, which was ufed tobecaten, either 
boiled or rofled under the hre, which the roote of Njmphxa failetn in, (this is mold probable to bee the Lome 
And then againe inthefeede, which as Dwfcoriats (heweth, is flat in thehead o ; the 
and like M,lwm,thn is round in the Lotm ■. but the leaves and flowers in both being fo like, the oth< r 
eing hid under the water,caufed Alpmiu , as he faith himfelfe to rake no further knowledge or marke any di£K = 
ence in them then of a Njmpb&a, (and I am halfe perfwaded the like negleft hath happened to the Paha tyfoyp- 
at’ Wyu n ° C y " ln , thc ^ aters , of £ W f > becaufe the leaves thereof alfo are round likcthe Z.«i>or 
Nympkea) but now in his Booke of Sxoucki plants,he changeih his note, and (heweth there that this is the true 
a n a t’u pans cl ;" eof F ar£icullrl y deciphered. All thefe fotts of Water Liilyes.are fo called' 
bj all Writers a.mofl as I doe, and therefore neede no further explanation or amplification " But hereby all 
men ma y take a good caveat not to he too forward, either to condemne the Text of che ancienrs'as judging i t er . 
romous.orto be too confident of their owne judgement,without well confidering all parts: For the likehcre- 
he| C r? n h r a | P r ne f UI f° thef<! ^ W r‘ ch former, y was confidently fuppoled to be Co'ocaJJia, ignorance 
being the caufe of error, which knowledge fince by induftry hath corrected. 
TheVertucs , 
r® 8 1 if 3 - 0 ^ CrSOft - he water fillies are cold andmoitt, but the roote and feede is cold and dry 2 the 
ieaves doecoo.e ail inflammations, and both outward and inward hcares of a«ues an j fo doc the flowers alfo 
either by the Syrupe or Confcrve.thc (aid Sytupe alfo helpcth muchto procure ^i^ to fettle theS of 
franticks 
