840 
N Y M P II M A. 
different from the preceding fpecies. It is a native of 
North America and the Eaft of Siberia ; and not unfre¬ 
quent here in the more curious gardens, but fcarcely 
hardy enough to bear a fucceffion of our winters. It 
flowers in June and July. It is rather fmaller in all its 
parts than N. alba, and is diftinguifhed by the fweet haw¬ 
thorn-like fcent of the flowers, which have not been ob- 
ferved to link under water at night in this country. 
8. Nymphasa nitida, Siberian or cup-flowered water- 
lily: leaves heart-fhaped, entire; the nerve and veins 
not prominent beneath ; ftigma of twelve to twenty up¬ 
right rays, inflexed at their points; root vertical. Na¬ 
tive of Siberia. Mr. W. Anderfon introduced it, in 1809, 
to the collection of James Vere, efq. where the plant was 
found to require heat to keep it alive. In the Hort. Kew. 
it is marked hardy, flowering in July and Auguft, and 
faid to come from Siberia, as we prefume, on the autho¬ 
rity of Gmelin. It much refembles N. alba; but the 
flowers are lefs expanded, without fcent, the veins of the 
leaves rather funk or furrowed, and the tuberous part of 
the root, as Mr. Anderfon obferves, not horizontal nor 
creeping, but perpendicular and afcending. 
9. Nymphsea pygmaea, or pigmy water-lily : leaves 
heart-fhaped, entire; ftigma of leven or eight inflexed 
rays. Native of China; introduced in 1805. This fpe¬ 
cies is but about half the fize of any other as yet difco- 
vered. The leaves are about two inches broad, with diftant 
lobes; their veins funk. Stalks (lender; flowers white, 
with a flight fweetnefs. Stamens yellow, the outer ones 
much dilated, or obovate, below' the anther, and gradually 
becoming broader and paler, till they aflimi late entirely with 
the petals, as is the cafe more or lefs with others of this gen us. 
10. Nymphaea lotus, the Egyptian lotus, or water-lily: 
leaves cordate, toothed. The Egyptian water-lily refembles 
our common white fpecies very much in the form of the 
flow'er and leaves, but the latter are toothed about the 
edge. It is a native of the hot parts of the Eaft Indies, 
Africa, and America. It is very common in ponds, lakes, 
and rivers, in Jamaica; and grows in vaft quantities in 
the plains of Lower Egypt, near Cairo, during the time 
they are under water. It flowers there about the middle 
of September, and ripens towards the end of October. 
The Arabians call it mip/iar. The ancient Egyptians 
made a bread of the feed of the lotus dried and ground. 
11. Nymphasa nelumbo, the Chinefe w’ater-lily : leaves 
peltate, entire all round. Root horizontal, long, creep¬ 
ing, confifting of joints linked together, ovate-oblong, 
white, ftefhy, efculent, tubular within. Leaves exactly 
peltate, with a cavity in the centre above, and dichoto¬ 
mous veins fpringing from the fame centre, orbiculate 
with a point on each fide, a little waved, thin, paler un¬ 
derneath, fmooth, of different flzes, from four to twelve 
inches. Petioles ereCt, very ftraight, round, hifpid, or 
muricated, thicker below', attenuated above ; peduncle 
the thicknefs of a Anger below, attenuated above, fpongy, 
nniricated, one-flowered. Flower as large as the palm of 
the hand, or larger; purple. Calyx four-leaved : leaflets 
concave, fpreading, deciduous: the corolla confifts of 
fifteen petals or more, ovate, lubacute, concave, many- 
nerved on the outfide, fpreading; ftamens fixty or more, 
fhorter than the corolla ; antheras linear, white, very long, 
placed on the receptacle. 
The nelumbois theconnefting linkbetween the mono- 
cotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants; for, by the 
ftrufture of the feed it appears to belong to the latter, but 
in reality it ranks with the former, for it conftantly puts 
forth one leaf only in germination, and does not produce 
a fecond till the firft is entirely unfolded above water: 
this, Gasrtner fays, he has found to be the cafe in more 
than fifty nuts that were fent him by Lerche. 
Nelumbo, or Chinefe water-lily, is a native both of the 
Eaft and Weft Indies, China, Cochinchina, and Japan, 
Perfia, and fome parts of the Ruffian empire. Browme 
lays it is pretty common in the lagoons beyond the ferry 
Vol. XVII. No. 1182. 
in Jamaica, but not in the deeper w'aters. Thunberg in¬ 
forms us, that it is confidered as a faCred plant in Japan, 
and pleafing to their deities, and that the images of their 
idols were often feen fitting on its large leaves. The long 
ftalks are eaten among other pot-herbs. It differs from 
the Egyptian lotus in having entire thin leaves, with the 
petiole and peduncle rugged. Loureiro relates that it 
abounds in muddy' marfhes, and is cultivated in large 
handfome pots in the gardens and houfes of the manda¬ 
rins ; that there is a variety with the flower of a pure 
white, and another with a very beautiful luxuriant flower, 
having about one hundred large petals, white or 
rofe-coloured. Both root and feeds are efculent, fapid, 
and wholefome. They are accounted cooling and 
ftrengthening, and to be of fervice in extreme thirft, diar¬ 
rhoea, tenefmus, vomiting, and internal heat. In China 
it is called lien-wha, and the feeds and flices of the hairy 
root, with the kernels of apricots and walnuts, and alter¬ 
nate layers of ice, were frequently prefented to the Bri- 
tifh ambaffador and his fuite at breakfafts given by fome 
of the principal mandarins. 
The Chinefe have always held this plant in fuch high 
value, that at length they' regarded it as facred. That 
character however has not limited it to merely ornamental 
purpofes ; for the roots are not only ferved up in lum- 
mer with ice, but they are alfo laid up in fait and vine¬ 
gar for the winter. The feeds are fomewhat of the fize 
and form of an acorn, and of a tafte more delicate than 
that of almonds. The ponds are generally covered with 
it, and exhibit a very beautiful appearance when it is in 
flow'er: and the flowers are no lefs fragrant than hand- 
ion! e. Sir George Staunton remarks, that the leaf, be- 
fides its common ufes, has, from its ftruCture growing 
entirely round the ftalk, the advantage of defending the 
flower and fruit, growing from its centre, from any con- 
tad! with the water, w’hich might injure them. He alfo 
remarks, that the Item never fails to afcend in the water 
from w'hatever depth, unlefs in cafe of a fudden inunda¬ 
tion, until it attains the furface, w'here its leaf expands, 
refts, and fwims upon it, and fometimes riles above it. 
But this property it has in common with the other fpe¬ 
cies of Nymphaea. This plant bears the rigorous cold 
of the Pekin winter, though it is reared with difficulty 
in European ftoves. It often grows fpontaneouily in 
China, and is propagated in the open air with eafe, both 
by the feed and root. The Chinefe diftinguifh many va¬ 
rieties of it. From the root of the nelumbo, fir George 
Staunton lays, the Egyptians are fuppofed to have pre¬ 
pared their colocafia ; but the plant is now no longer 
found in that country : from which circumftance fome 
naturalifts infer, that it never was indigenous there, but 
cultivated by the inhabitants with extreme care. The 
ancient Romans made repeated efforts to raife it among 
them, from feeds brought out of Egypt; and the modem 
attempts to cultivate it in Europe, though with the affift- 
ance of artificial heat, feldom have fucceeded. Dr. Pa¬ 
trick Browne is of opinion that the ancients confounded 
two plants under the name of lotus, or Egyptian bean ; 
and that under thefe titles they defcribed the upper parts 
of the Nymphsea nelumbo, and the roots of Arum colo¬ 
cafia, or Egyptian arum. But the Nymphaea mult not 
be confounded with the tree-lotus, for which fee Rhamnus 
lotus. 
The Nymphaea nelumbo, or true Chinefe water-lily, 
was introduced here in 1787 by fir Jofeph Banks. It is 
reprefented on the preceding Plate at fig. 6. 
( 3 . Differs in having hard feeds; in othercircumftances 
it agrees with the other fo much as fcarcely to be diftin¬ 
guifhed. 
12. Nymphaea rubra, or red water-lily: leaves fome¬ 
what peltate, and fharply toothed ; downy, with promi¬ 
nent reticulated veins beneath, and prominerft ribs above; 
their lobes divaricated and acute. Native of the Eaft: 
Indies, from whence it was fent by the indefatigable and 
4U intelligent 
