4 
Dicotyledons with Polypetalous Flowers. 
Natural Order 
NYMPH^EACE^E. Tab. 3. 
Diagnosis. — Aquatic herbs with round floating leaves and large solitary 
regular flowers. Petals and stamens indefinite. Carpels indefinite, con¬ 
solidated, each with a distinct stigma over the cells of the ovary. Albu¬ 
men mealy. 
Distribution. —A small Natural Order, widely dispersed in the fresh waters of the Temperate 
and Tropical zones in both hemispheres. 
Number of British Genera, 2 ; Species, 3. 
Sepals 4 — 6. 
PETALS indefinite, gradually passing into the stamens ; in White Water-lily (Nymphcea), inserted around the 
fleshy receptacle in which the carpels are immersed so as to become perigynous or epigynous. 
CARPELS in a single whorl ; in Sacred Lotus (. Nelumbium ), scattered singly in a free, top-shaped receptacle. 
OVULES indefinite, nearly covering the walls of the ovary; definite in Sacred Lotus. 
SEEDS with a double albumen in the Water-lilies. 
USES, &c.—The seeds of Sacred Lotus are eaten, and the rhizome of this species, as also of some Water- 
lilies, affords a farinaceous food. The rhizome of White Water-lily is occasionally used as a rustic gray dye. 
The South American Victoria regia , the largest aquatic plant, with leaves frequently 10 — 12 feet, and flowers 
10—12 inches in diameter, was introduced into England in 1849, an d is now frequently grown in warm tanks. 
Several species of Water-lily ( Nymplicea ), purple, red and white, especially the tropical N. Lotus , N. stellata, and 
numerous hybrid forms, also Sacred Lotus ( NeLumbium speciosum), are in cultivation. 
