YELLOW WATER-LILIES. 
Several years ago a writer in the Atlantic Monthly 
discoursed very pleasantly upon the charms of our 
native white Water-Lily. After mentioning a multi¬ 
tude of other wild-flowers, which grew upon the banks 
of a Lily-pond, he writes thus: ‘ ‘ These all crowd around 
the brink and watch day and night the opening and 
closing of the Water-Lilies. Meanwhile, upon the 
waters, our queen keeps her chosen court, nor can one 
of these mere land-loving blossoms touch the hem of 
her garment. In truth she bears no sister near her 
throne. Her humble cousin, the yellow Nuphar keeps 
continually aloof, as becomes a poor relation, though 
created from the self-same mud—a fact which Haw¬ 
thorne has beautifully moralized. Undisturbed, how¬ 
ever, the Water-Lily keeps her fragrant court, with few 
attendants.” 
It is quite evident that when the above was written, 
the writer was not aware of the existence, as a perma¬ 
nent variety, of that lovely child of “our queen,” the 
beautiful rose-colored Water-Lily of Cape Cod — 
Nymphcea Odorata Rosea. Nor was he aware of the 
existence of a comparatively new species, Nymphcea 
flava, the yellow Water-Lily of Florida. In our estima¬ 
tion this latter species is not unworthy to be called a 
sister of Nymphcea odorata. It has been in cultivation 
for several years in the Northern States, but often with 
indifferent success as regards flowering. So long as we 
kept it coddled in pots and tubs, we never had a flower. 
In the spring of 1882, several roots were planted in one 
corner of our artificial Lily-pond, where the soil was very 
rich, and the water two feet deep. It grew finely that 
season and produced a few flowers. It was left out the 
next winter and proved to be perfectly hardy. During 
the summer of 1883 it flowered most abundantly, quite 
as freely as Nymphcea odorata in a wild state. The flow¬ 
ers were three to four inches across, of a bright canary- 
yellow color, with deeper-colored stamens, and emit a 
most delicious perfume, resembling somewhat that of 
the common Locust-tree blossom (Robinia pseudacacia). 
The foliage also was several times larger than when the 
plant was grown in a pot, being six or seven inches in 
diameter. This plant is very peculiar in habit, and is 
quite distinct in several respects from N. odorata. Its 
rhizomes, or tubers, are covered with warty protuber¬ 
ances, and look something like ears of pop-corn. Instead 
of growing horizontally in the mud, they assume a ver¬ 
tical position, the leaves and flowers ascending from 
the top of the tuber. These latter send out, just under 
the surface of the soil, runners, which produce new 
plants at their joint, in the same manner that straw¬ 
berry plants do on terra firma. Thus it will be seen, 
that to keep it within proper limits in a Lily-garden, it 
will be necessary to surround it with a curb of brick or 
wood, extending an inch or two above the soil in which 
it is planted. Mr. William Falconer, while at the Bo¬ 
tanical Garden at Cambridge, Mass., left it out in a 
pond several winters, and it proved hardy there. I see 
no reason why it cannot be successfully grown in any 
location where N. odorata flourishes. ' 
Another charming yellow-flowered aquatic is Limno- 
charis Humboldtii, which we have christened the Water- 
Poppy. Its pretty foliage is elliptical in shape, two or 
three inches long, and floats on the surface like a Water- 
Lily leaf. The flowers are produced singly, on stems 
reaching a few inches above the water and are almost 
like the California Poppy (Eschscholtzia) in form and size,, 
but of a handsome lemon color, with a cluster of short, 
black stamens in the centre. They last only one day, 
but are produced in abundance during the whole sum¬ 
mer. It can be successfully grown in a half-barrel half- 
filled with soil, kept filled with water and in a sunny 
position. If grown in a fountain basin, or Lily-garden, 
it should be arranged so as to have only from four to 
six inches of water above the soil. It must be wintered 
in a tub of water in the greenhouse, and is the most 
easily managed of all tender aquatics. It was discover¬ 
ed in South America by Humboldt, the naturalist. 
Limnocharis Plumieri is another of the same family, 
but, instead of floating, its leaves stand out of the water 
on footstalks fifteen inches high. They are roundish in 
shape, about six or seven inches across, and of a lovely, 
rich, yellowish green. The flowers are borne on tall 
scapes, straw color, smaller than those of L. Hum¬ 
boldtii, but the plant is worth cultivating for variety. 
Limnanthemum nymphceoides (Villarsia) is the Euro¬ 
pean relative of the Floating Heart, which was so 
graphically described and figured in the Cabinet for 
August, 1883. It is a larger-growing plant, with 
Nymphsea-like leaves, variegated with brown. The 
flowers, which are produced very freely, are about an 
inch across, of a golden-yellow color, beautifully 
fringed and stand erect like the Water-Poppies. It has 
a decided preference for ^hallow water, and among 
ornamental aquatics is the hardiest one with which we 
are acquainted, enduring actual freezing without in¬ 
jury; though if the water should be drawn oil the plant 
in autumn, it would be best to cover it with a little soil 
or litter. E. D. Sturtevant. 
NEW CARNATIONS. 
It is but a few years since the number of varieties of 
Carnations worthy of distinctive names was exceeding 
small, numbering less than a dozen in fact, less than 
twenty years ago, but two or three varieties were 
grown for florists’ use. The rapidity with which new 
and beautiful sorts can be grown from seed, has stimu¬ 
lated many specialists in floriculture, to remarkable 
activity in the development of this popular and useful 
flower; so that the number of really fine varieties is al¬ 
most interminable and their characteristic distinctions 
indefinable. With each season new varieties of ex¬ 
cellence are introduced, some of which are really 
