Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/523

 WATER LILY 503 bodies, which appear much like the many short stamens next to which they are placed ; the large columnar ovary is truncate at the top, crowned by the disk-like, many-rayed stigma, and has 10 to 25 cells, with numerous ovules in each cell; it usually ripens above water, becoming fleshy. The common species, AT. advena, has six sepals, while the less com- mon jV. lutea has five, with its early leaves submersed and very thin, the floating ones oval; this is common in Europe, where its different forms have been named as species, and a small variety of it (var. pumila) is more common in this country than the type. A southern species, N. sagittcefolia, has arrow- shaped leaves a foot long and only 2 in. wide. Sweet-scented Water Lily (Nympheea odorata). The plant known especially in this country as the water lily, frequently as pond lily, and sometimes as water nymph, belongs to the genus nymphcea, it having been dedicated by the Greeks to the water nymphs. In this the sepals are four, green on the outside, but petal-like within ; the petals are very nu- merous, in several rows, the inner ones becoming narrower and smaller until they gradually pass into stamens, which are also numerous and, with the petals, at- tached to the surface of the many- celled ovary, which bears at the top a globular pro- jection with radiate stigmas, each of which bears an incurved sterile appendage ; the fruit, which ripens under water, is berry- like, pulpy within, and each of its numerous Stamens and Petals of Nymphaea. seeds is enveloped in a thin membranous sac. f about 20 species, two are found in the United States, and the others are widely dis- tributed, some being found in South Africa and Australia. Our common species, N. odo- rata, has nearly orbicular leaves, which often cover a broad surface of water on the margins of lakes and ponds, forming what are known as lily pads; the flowers, which open very early in the morning, are often over 5 in. across, of the purest white, and most delight- fully sweet-scented. The flowers vary consider- ably in size, one (var. minor) being only half as large as the ordinary form ; in some localities the flowers are slightly tinged with pink, and they are found, though rarely, with the petals bright pink throughout ; the leaves also vary in size, and sometimes are crimson on the un- der side. The rootstock, as large as one's arm or larger, and several feet long, is blackish externally, and marked with scars left by the leaves and flower stems; it is whitish and spongy within, and has an astringent and bit- terish taste ; it is in repute among botanic physicians as a tonic and astringent. Though the plant often grows in water several feet deep, the leaf and flower stalks accommodate themselves to the depth, and they may some- times be found where there is but a few. inches of water ; the plants may be cultivated in a tub or shallow tank containing earth and kept well supplied with water. Another spe- cies, so like the preceding in general appear- ance as to have escaped notice, was first dis- tinctly identified and described in 1865 by Dr. J. A. Paine in his catalogue of the plants of Oneida co., N. Y. It differs from the other chiefly in its larger leaves, a foot or more wide ; its larger flowers, 44 to 9 in. across, which have broader and blunter petals and are nearly scentless, or at most with a slight apple- like odor quite unlike the rich perfume of the preceding ; and more especially in bearing nu- merous simple or compound tubers upon the rootstock, which resemble Jerusalem artichokes and spontaneously detach themselves from it, and on account of which Dr. Paine called it N. tuberosa. It is found in central New York, southward and westward. The com- mon water lily of Europe and Asia is N. alia, which closely resembles our N. odorata, but its flowers have broader petals and are scent- less. There are several exotic species of great beauty, cultivated by those who have green- houses fitted with a tank for aquatics ; the best known is N. lotus, white, a native of Egypt, whose ancient inhabitants used the seeds as food ; it is the white lotus of the Nile. N. dentata, from Sierra Leone, has leaves sometimes 2 ft. across, and white flowers with a diameter of 14 in. The blue lotus of the Nile, N. ccerulea, has sweet-scented flowers, about the size of our own fragrant species, but of a charming blue color. Another blue species is N. gigantea from Australia, with flowers more than a foot across. There are