The royal water-lily of South America, and the water-lilies of our own land: their history and cultivation

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

ROYAL WATER-LILY OF SOUTH AMERICA,

WATER-LILIES OF OUR OWN LAND.

•-

ROYAL WATER-LILY

SOUTH AMERICA,

WATER-LILIES OF OUR OWN LAND

THEIR HISTORY AND CULTIVATION.

BY GEORGE LAWSON, F.B.S., &c.

M

EDINBURGH: JAMES HOGG.

LONDON: R. GROOMBRIDGE & SONS.

MDCCCLI.

Ls

CONTENTS.

Page

Introductory Observations , , , , , , , , , , . , 9

The Royal Water-Lily— Victoria Regina 24

The Great White Water-Lily— Nymphsa alba 81

The Common Yellow Water-Lily— Nnphar lutea 97

The Least Yellow Water-Lily— Nnphar pnmila , , , , , . 101

PREFACE.

IT is pleasing to observe, in these days of popular
science, that the delightful study of Natural His-
tory, as a branch of general education, is keeping
pace with the rapid progress of other departments
of knowledge. Although the lovely science of Bo-
tany has not yet assumed an entirely popular form,
suitable for all classes, still, much has recently been
done to render it attractive, to extend its influences,
and to encourage the taste for its study; and the
author of these pages feels a gratification in contri-
buting his mite to this department of literature.

The object of the present work is to place before
the general reader a popular, yet full and accurate,
detail of the history of the most magnificent of all
plants, the Royal Water-Lily of South America; to-
gether with an account of those less gorgeous, but
not less interesting, species that adorn the Lakes
and Rivers of our own land.

IV PREFACE.

In the popularisation of Botany, the author is
well aware that those efforts are most likely to
meet with success which are directed towards the
elucidation of our native Flora; and he has accord-
ingly dwelt at some length on this part of the
subject.

Although written in a style calculated to engage
the attention of the general reader, it is confidently
hoped that the work may likewise prove a useful
Manual to the cultivator, and be found worthy of
perusal by the scientific botanist.

November, 1850.

INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.

WHILE the dry land is richly clothed with an in-
numerable array of vegetable forms, each suitable for
the region assigned to it by Nature — the gorgeous
Orchid luxuriating in the humid shade, and the noble
Palm waving in the warm breeze, of the tropics, while
a race of more humble productions beautify the
meadows and mountains of our northern isle — so, in
like manner, the unfathomable ocean, teeming with
life, is abundantly furnished with its myriads of pecu-
liar plants, capable of existing in the watery element
alone, and often exhibiting a beauty and delicacy of
structure totally unknown among the more familiar
tribes, which compose the " carpet of flowers and of
verdure spread over the naked crust of our planet."
The oceanic vegetation, moreover, frequently dis-
plays the brightest and the freshest hues, rivalling
the magnificent and lovely productions of the tropical
Flora; and the illustrious Humboldt bears witness
that, at the depth of 20o feet, the lead brought up
sea-weed " green as grass." The Sargasso Sea, as it is
called, presents floating oceanic meadows of the gulf-

10 AQUATIC PLANTS.

weed, " extending over a surface almost seven times
greater than that of France," and a single stem of
Macrocystis pyrifera of the Pacific has been found to
attain the length of 1500 feet, while the Chorda Filum
of the British seas extends to 40 feet. Even " our
land-forests do not harbour so many animals as the
low, wooded regions of the ocean, where the Sea-
weed rooted to the shoals, or long branches of Fuci,
detached by the force of waves or currents, and swim-
ming free, upborne by air-cells, unfold their delicate
foliage." Well, indeed, may the botanist exclaim, in
the language of the poet —

" Oh, what an endlesse worke have I iu hand,

To count the Sea's abundant progeny !
Whose fruitfulle seede farre passeth those in land,

And also those which wonne in the azure sky.

For much more eath to tell the starres on hy,
Albe they endless seem in estimation,

Then to recount the Sea's posterity ;
So fertile be the flouds in generation,
So huge their numbers, and so numberlesse their nation."

But, besides the numerous family of Ocean Flowers,
which, in vast congregations, form the meadows and
the forests of the deep, and often fringe our rocky
shores, and line with their delicate tapestry the
dreary caverns at the bottom of the sea, there is a
large class of Aquatic plants, whose foliage and
flowers float upon the surface of the water in our
lakes and rivers, and in whose structural characters

AQUATIC PLANTS. 11

and general appearance we readily trace remarkable
similarities with those of the phanerogamous vege-
tation of the dry land. The curious Vallisneria (the
female blossoms of which reach the surface of the
water by means of a spirally elastic stalk, and are
impregnated by the male becoming detached from
the bottom, and floating to the surface, likewise, at
maturity) is an example of aquatic vegetation well
known to every one who has been in the habit of
reading botanical books; and the no less curious
Pontederias, remarkable from the inflated leaf-stalks
which float them in the water, are equally well known.
In our own country, the various species of Potamo-
geton are perhaps the most prevalent aquatics, seve-
ral of them being extremely common, often com-
pletely covering the surface of the stagnant pond, or
the purer waters of the pellucid lake. The Ranun-
culus aquatilis is also common in pools or gentle
streams, clothing them with a turf-like verdure, and
exhibiting a lovely array of pure white blossoms in
early summer time; and the Butomus, not unfrequent
in the English lakes, though a rare plant, and, at
best, an introduced one to Scotland, is peculiarly in-
teresting to the few who still cling to the Linnsean
method, from the circumstance of its being the only
British representative of the class Enneandria. To
botanists of the present day, a recent addition to
our Aquatic Flora, the Anacharis, is highly curious,
having only been recognised as a British genus within

12 WATER-LILY FAMILY.

the last few years, and subsequently found in the
utmost profusion in many of our waters, more espe-
cially in England, where, if it be not really indige-
nous, it has become so abundant, and proved so
troublesome, as to require removal by dredging. It
is a near ally of the Vallisneria.

But by far the most beautiful tribe of Aquatic
plants is the Water-Lilies — those lovely Naiads that
adorn the lakes and rivers with their ample foliage,
in tropical as well as temperate lands, and, raising
their gorgeous flowers with the morning sun, recline
them

" In graceful attitudes, to rest,"

as the god of day sinks in the western horizon. These
plants are arranged by botanists into the Natural
Order Nymphceacece ; but the name of Water-Lily is
often extended to an allied family, the Nelumbiacece.

The natural order, Nymphaeacese — which derives
its name from its members, nymph-like, inhabiting
the waters — although entirely composed of plants
holding no higher station than that of "aquatic
herbs," is, nevertheless, at once one of the loveliest
and one of the most interesting tribes of the whole
Vegetable Kingdom. The expansive and verdant
foliage of the Nymphseas, floating gracefully upon
the surface of the water, render them highly con-
spicuous as well as pleasing objects in the pure ele-
ment which they inhabit, while their truly splendid
blossoms of pure white, delicate rose, bright yellow,

WATER-LILY FAMILY. 13

or, as iu the Cape species, of a lively blue, and often
deliciously odoriferous, form additional charms. In
geographical distribution, the species chiefly abound
in the northern hemisphere, being of much rarer
occurrence in the southern; sometimes they inhabit
the obscure stream or more noble river, and at others
enjoy the seclusion and retirement of the still and
placid lake —

" Crowning the depths as with the light serene
Of a pure heart."

The true and natural position of the Nymphseacese,
or Water-Lilies, in the Natural System of Classifica-
tion, is by no means very clearly determined, and
has given rise to great differences of opinion among
scientific observers. Indeed, so ambiguous is the pe-
culiar structure of these plants, and so different are
the conclusions arrived at by those vegetable physiolo-
gists who have given the subject their close attention,
that the Nymphseas have been considered by some
to belong to the class of Endogens, while the general
opinion of the present day shows a decided tendency
to rank them in the other important class of flower-
ing plants, the Exogens. Lindley assigns them a
place in the latter class, although it seems only from
the paucity of correct information elucidated con-
cerning them, and the unsatisfactory results which
have followed the arduous labours of other bota-
nists, that he is " not prepared to disturb existing
arrangements." In a volume like the present, ad-

14 WATER-LILY FAMILY.

dressed to a popular audience, it would be out of
place to enter upon a discussion of this purely physio-
logical question; and we cannot do better than refer
the scientific reader to that important work, the
" Vegetable Kingdom," for an extremely concise yet
comprehensive view of the various opinions em-
braced by different botanists regarding the true cha-
racter and position of the Nymphseas.

To these plants, various properties have been at-
tributed which, in the present day, are not by any
means generally recognised, and Dr Wight has sug-
gested that they may have originally arisen, as in
many similar instances, from the circumstance of the
plants inhabiting the " cool and placid waters, com-
bined with the chaste whiteness of their flowers."
However, the roots, as well as the seeds, of all the
species abound in starch; and, though not now in so
very high repute among the natives of the various re-
gions they inhabit, they were, in the earlier ages,
more especially in the East, valued as wholesome
food. Even in the present day, some of the species are
used to a considerable extent. The seeds of Nym-
phsea rubra — a magnificent Indian species, of fre-
quent occurrence, inhabiting the fresh-water pools
and gently-flowing rivers — are used by the natives,
and considered wholesome — the roots, however, be-
ing only resorted to in times of scarcity or famine.
Various other species afford food to the aborigines
of the tropics, the seeds being manufactured into

LOTUS OF THE ANCIENTS. 15

bread ; and Sloane records, in his " History of Ja-
maica," that the Egyptians ate the juicy stalks in
the heats, and made use of the leaves and flowers
" for hot pains, as, likewise, the oils, which are used
in want of sleep." But N. esculenta seems to be
esteemed above all others for food by the natives of
the East — the tuberous root, or rhizome, being the
portion used. The .Nymphseas are also applied to
other purposes; and the author we have just quoted
also tells us, that in Florida, on one occasion, the In-
dians being surrounded in a lake by the Christians,
they, the former, endeavoured their escape in the
night with Water-Lily leaves on their heads. The
N. Lotus — which is used for food in the form of bread,
the roots being also eaten — is a famous plant in an-
cient history, and known under the name of Lotus. It
is still held sacred in the East; and it is related
that a native of Nepaul, upon entering Sir William
Jones's study, made prostrations before flowers of
this plant, which happened to lie there for examina-
tion. The celebrated Lotus meets not with the same
respect in Hungary, for there the roots are given to
hogs. It is stated, that in some districts of that
country this Water-Lily may be seen on every
stream; and it has been observed to flourish in the
hot springs, at a heat equal to 95 deg. of Fahrenheit.
But the Nymphsea Lotus is not the only plant to
which the name of Lotus has been applied; on the
contrary, it is now pretty generally believed that

16 LOTUS OF THE ANCIENTS.

another and more magnificent Water-Lily — the Ne-
lumbhmi speciosum of botanists — is the true Lotus
of the ancients — that " Mythic Lotus," as Lindley
says, "which so often occurs on the monuments of
Egypt and India." Indeed, it has been suggested
that the name originally belonged to some kind of
bean, or other leguminous plant, common in Greece,
and was subsequently applied to the Nelumbium and
other Water-Lilies, on account of the similarity of
their seed, just as our English voyagers give the
names of Apples, Pears, and Gooseberries, to such
tropical fruits as bear an apparent resemblance to
the produce of their own country, and as Herodotus
had long before, in describing the same plant, called
it a rose-coloured Lily. Certain it is, that various
Water-Lilies, but chiefly the Nymphsea Lotus and
Nelumbium speciosum, were recognised by the name
of Lotus, and held in great esteem by the ancient
Egyptians, for we find that the blossoms " crowned
their columns, were sculptured on their temples, and
associated with their gods." The Egyptian Bean of
Pythagoras is generally referred to the fruit of the
Nelumbium.

This plant, although once abundant on the Nile
(from its association with which it derived its be-
coming name of " Rose of the Nile "), and describ-
ed by Theophrastus as occurring spontaneously,
as well as where cultivated, is not now an inhabi-
tant of the " father of rivers." It is supposed to have

LOTUS OF THE ANCIENTS. 17

been originally introduced to Egypt, and cultivated
there. The ancient Egyptians had a highly curious
mode of sowing the seeds of this plant, and the gar-
deners of the present day may perhaps take a lesson
from them. The seeds were planted in balls of mud
or clay, mixed with chaff', and when thus cast upon
the waters, sunk immediately to the bottom into a
bed suitable for their germination. Dr Royle men-
tions that this mode of sowing is to the present day
practised by certain tribes in the Indian Peninsula;
and it has been instanced as a beautiful illustration
of the passage in the sacred writings — Cast thy bread
upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after many
days.

The TsTelumbium is that " holy and beautiful plant
often met with in the religious ceremonies of the
Hindoos, under the Sanscrit name Padma." It has
long been considered one of the most splendid Aqua-
tics which inhabit the Eastern waters. Its lovely
pea-green leaves, when in a young state, float upon
the water; but at a more advanced stage, and when
the plant is in flower, they are raised upon the stalks
above the surface. The leaves measure nearly two
feet in diameter, and afford resting-places for various
members of the animal kingdom. " Snakes slum-
ber on the floating leaves of Nelumbium specio-
sum, and aquatic birds, especially the long-toed
Chinese Jacaua, trip gracefully over them, and some-
times build their nests in the cavities." In the

18 .ETHIOPIAN LILY.

East, the Nelumbium is especially to be seen on
those lakes which resist the drought of the hot sea-
son. The large blossoms — nearly ten inches in dia-
meter at full expansion, and produced, in some parts,
throughout the entire year — are described by all
who have seen them in their native waters to be of
the most gorgeous character, although almost desti-
tute of odour. In the words of Roxburgh, the flowers
are " large and beautiful beyond description, particu-
larly in the rose-coloured varieties. ... In
China, there is a still more beautiful bright crimson
variety, which they call Hung-lin," and which has
been stated to be edible. This plant seems to supply
the natives of India both with food and dishes from
which to eat it. The seeds, and likewise the tender
shoots of the roots, are made use of by them as an
article of diet, while they use the large leaves in-
stead of plates, from which to take their food. The
spiral vessels which Dr Wight has observed to abound
in the Nelumbium, are carefully collected, and form
those wicks, " which, on great and solemn occasions,
are burnt in the lamps of the Hindoos, placed be-
fore the shrines of their gods."

The Nelumbium, or Rose of the Nile, must not
be confounded by the non-botanical reader with a
very different plant, often cultivated in our green-
houses under the names of Lily of the Nile and
^Ethiopian Lily. This is the Calla ^Ethiopica of Lin-
naeus, the Richardia Africana of modern botanists,

.ETHIOPIAN LILY. 19

and has no structural affinity with any of the other
plants known as Lilies and Water-Lilies. It belongs
to the natural order Araceae, the Arum Family — be-
ing associated with the Cuckoo-pint, or Wake-Robin
of our woods (from the root of which plant Portland
Sago is prepared), the tongue-swelling Dumb-cane,
and the Acorus Calamus, or Sweet Flag. The
Richardia is easily cultivated, either in the green-
house or in the dwelling-house window — a plentiful
supply of water being all that is necessary to insure
its success. It has been observed, that when the
Calla has too much water given it, this will distil
away in drops from the tapering points of the leaves,
perfectly limpid, and of an acrid taste. It requires
to be grown in a pretty large pot, so that its roots
may have plenty of room; and, where it can be done,
the plant will grow all the better if the pot is plunged
into a tub, or cistern of water. The ^Ethiopian Lily
grows very well throughout the summer season in
the open air pond, and, where entirely covered with
a depth of water sufficient to place its roots beyond
the reach of frosts, is said to stand over the winter,
and thrive well as a permanent out-of-door Aquatic.
Its arrow-shaped, upright leaves, elevated above the
water on long stalks, and the large pure white spathe
which it produces, render the Richardia an object of
great beauty, and point it out as a fitting companion
on the lake, but more especially on the artificial
pond, for the Great White Water-Lily of our own

20 BRITISH WATER-LILIES.

land. As a greenhouse plant, it flowers in the winter
and early spring months.

It is a well-known fact in botanical geography,
that the vegetation of tropical regions far surpasses
in splendour the more modest forms of vegetable
life that are found in the cold and temperate regions
of our globe. This is, however, only a general rule;
and, like many general rules in natural science, has
its exceptions. In the case of marine Algae, and
other productions inhabiting the ocean, we find that
latitude has a very weak influence in varying their
form and appearance — the briny element being of
much more equable temperature, throughout the
different regions, than the atmosphere and the
earth's surface. To some extent, this may likewise,
in some instances, hold good with respect to lacus-
trine vegetation, which, in our own country, assumes
a comparatively luxuriant aspect; but, on the other
hand, we find that those tropical aquatics and semi-
aquatics, whose habitats are on the margins of rivers
and in shallow waters, often assume a luxuriance and
splendour scarcely to be met wTith in other tribes,
and such is especially the case with the magnificent
family of Water-Lilies, some of which have, ever
since the earliest days of botanical science, been uni-
versally acknowledged to be the most splendid of
plants.

We accordingly find that the Water-Lilies of our
own land are not so brilliantly adorned as the species

BRITISH WATER-LILIES. 21

of the tropics, where the necessary conditions for the
full development of a luxuriant vegetation are al-
ways present; yet the Naiads of our own northern
waters are, in their own modest way, exquisitely
beautiful, and have many and strong claims upon
the attention of the botanist and the cultivator.
Their peculiarly pleasing aspect, in complete accord-
ance with the character of our lake scenery, recom-
mends them to the especial notice of the landscape
gardener, while their easy cultivation ought to in-
duce their introduction into every garden or plea-
sure-ground where a sufficient supply of pure water
is at command. Few aquatics can be so easily
managed, in the open air pond; few present a more
lovely appearance; and certainly none equal them
in interest. Highly as we regard the important
discoveries of the naturalists of our day, we do think
that a decided tendency is evinced by the horticul-
turists of the present age to overlook the indige-
nous productions of our own, in the eager desire for
the novelties of other more favoured lands. While
we can fully appreciate the value resulting to science
from the researches of botanical travellers, we would
have it be borne in mind that our native Flora
ought not to meet with undeserved neglect; for many
more of our British Wild-flowers, besides the Water-
Lilies, claim our attention. True, indeed, they are
not the gayest nor the brightest flowers in the
world. Humble in growth and modest in colouring,

B

22 BKITISH WATER-LILIES.

they often seek to slmn the vulgar gaze beneath the
overhanging woodland Lough, the shady rock, or the
long green grass of the meadow. But as the gorgeous
blossoms of tropical lands give to tropical scenes much
of their grandeur and beauty, so many of the gentle
flowers of our northern land come forth from their shy
retreats to deck the merry plains of old England, and
to begem the " land of brown heath" with brighter
beauties than the poet dreamt of while depicting
her features of stern grandeur. If the southern fo-
rest can boast of its tree ferns rising in stately ma-
jesty, o'ertopped by the towering Palm, and of the
less grand, but not less lovely, productions that luxu-
riate in the deep shade, or festoon the branches of
every tree, can we not point the finger of admiration
to the golden glow of our summer fields — the glory
of our shady dells, brightly blue as the heavens o'er
our head with Harebells and Forget-me- Nots — or,
writh a prouder feeling still, can we not direct the eye
to our lofty mountains covered far and wide with their
mantle of bright purple Heather, with here an Oak,
and there a Pine-forest waving in the mountain-
breeze, and sheltering beneath their rough boughs
many a modest gem of loveliness, linked in its
associations with the finest feelings of the human
heart 1 Beautiful in their lowliness, the humble wild-
flowers claim our warmest sympathies; they are the
dear things that adorn our native land, the remem-
brancers of many a hallowed scene, and of many a

BRITISH WATER-LILIES. 23

long-cherished love and friendship. In an especial
manner are they entwined around our hearts; they
have a "soul in every leaf," and we call in their aid
to give expression to the highest and holiest emo-
tions and feelings of our nature. The poets have
lavished on them many a line of praise, and adorned
with their fragile forms many a tale of love and in-
nocence, joy and sorrow; and even the botanist often
cherishes them as dearer than the bright and beau-
teous blossoms that unfold beneath the sunny Indian
sky.

" Beautiful flowers ! to me ye fresher seem
From the Almighty hand that fashioned all,
Than those that flourished by a garden wall."

THE ROYAL WATER-LILY-VICTORIA REGINA .*

<f A fair imperial flower;
She seem'd design'd for Flora's hand,

The sceptre of her power." — COWPER.

MAGNIFICENT as the entire family of Water-Lilies
are, and sacred as many of them have long been held
by the natives of those tropical countries wherein
they abound, the plant whose history we are about
to detail far outstrips all previously-discovered spe-
cies, in its gigantic size and nobility of aspect. With-
out doubt, it is the most extraordinary and most
gorgeous member of the Vegetable Kingdom, sur-
passing even the far-famed Rafflesia of Sumatra,
whose flower has been calculated to weigh fifteen
pounds, and is of dimensions sufficient to enable it
to hold twelve pints of water !

In general habit and mode of growth, the Royal
Water-Lily resembles the rest of the Nymphaeacese ;
but surpasses all other species in its gigantic pro-
portions and the splendour of its blossoms. Al-

* See plate facing title-page.

ROYAL WATEll-LILY. 25

though suspected by some, when first brought to
this country, to be an annual, the plant has satisfac-
torily proved itself to be of a perennial character;
the thick brown rhizome, buried in the mud, pre-
serves vitality for a long period, tlie process of
decay going slowly on at its base, while its upper
and younger part continues development, and year
after year produces an abundant supply of fresh
foliage and flowers — a constant growth of adventi-
tious roots going on at the same time to supply the
place of the old ones lost from time to time by the
gradual decay of the tuber. The plant generally
grows where there is a depth of about six feet of
water at the flowering season — the water rising con-
siderably higher in the wet season during inunda-
tions, and thus adding greatly to the luxuriance of
the plant and the size of its leaves. The leaves
always float on the surface of the water, being pro-
duced from long prickly petioles or stalks, springing
from the root, and which are inserted in the centre of
the leaf, the latter being thus peltate or shield-like.
It will be observed, from the drawing of the plant,
that the leaves are of a roundish oval shape, their
margins being turned up all round, exhibiting the
purplish hue and prickly ribs, with which their under
sides are so abundantly furnished. These turned-
up margins give to the leaves a very peculiar ap-
pearance, and botanists describing them have been
led to liken them to various objects; but perhaps

26 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

Mr Spruce's comparison of them to tea-trays is
as apt as any with which we have met. They are
gigantic tea-trays, however, often attaining the size
of six or seven feet in diameter, and our astonish-
ment at their dimensions is not lessened when we
recollect that they are the leaves of a Water-Lily.
Mr Henfrey,in the "Gardener's Magazine of Botany,"
describes the leaves as clothed with short spongy
pubescence, with very prominent flattened ribs
radiating from the centre to the circumference,
and progressively diminishing in depth ; " these
are united by cross ribs, also vertical plates, and the
latter again by less elevated ones crossing them,
so that the under surface is completely divided
into quadrangular chambers, of which the ribs
form the sides, and the general surface of the lamina
the top; and as these detain air within them, they
act as floats. All the ribs are more or less beset
with spines, varying in length, sharp and horny, en-
larged at the base." The magnificent blossoms of
the plant are not less wonderful than the leaves, and
measure about sixteen inches in diameter. The
flower expands its array of pure white petals in the
afternoon, exhaling a delicious odour; closes them
on the forenoon of the following day, on which day
they are again fully expanded, wrhen they present a
most gorgeous appearance. The flower eventually
closes about ten o'clock the same evening, and with-
draws beneath the surface of the water to ripen the

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 27

fruit, in the spongy substance of which the seeds are
imbedded.

The Royal Water-Lily forms a highly conspicuous
object on the lagoons and still shallow bays which
so frequently occur on many of those inimense rivers
tributary to the Amazon. It has been observed to
occur in equal profusion in similar localities on the
comparatively still waters of the La Plata and Esse-
quibo; and, from the scanty knowledge which bota-
nists have obtained of the productions of the inte-
rior of South America, it is exceedingly likely that
future research may be instrumental in showing
this Queen of all the Lilies to be very generally
distributed over considerable tracts of the eastern
portion of the Continent. No traces of it have
hitherto been observed towards the western parts of
South America, and its discovery there is not antici-
pated by botanists — the accuracy of Hooker's sug-
gestion being very generally acknowledged, that the
rapidity of the rivers which flow into the Pacific may
be the means of preventing its occurrence there, its
massive and tender foliage and flowers requiring
peaceful waters for their development. In speaking
of this Royal Water-Lily, Professor Lindley says —
" An undoubted addition to a tribe of plants, at once
so beautiful and so circumscribed as that of the
Nymphs, or Water-Lilies, would be an event of inte-
rest, even if it only related to a distinctly-marked
species of some well-known genus. But when the

28 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

subject of the discovery is not only a new genus, but
a plant of the most extraordinary beauty — fragrant,
and of dimensions previously unheard of in the whole
Vegetable Kingdom, except in the colossal family of
Palms — an interest must then attach to it which can
rarely be possessed by a novelty in natural history.
Such a plant is the subject of the following notice —
a Water-Lily, exhibiting a new type of structure, of
the most noble aspect, of the richest colours, and so
gigantic, that its leaves measure above eighteen feet,
and its flower nearly four feet in circumference." *
The honour of first making known this magnifi-
cent production to the world, in accurate scientific
description, having fallen to our own country, it was
thought that a better name could not be chosen for
the fair and noble plant than that of Victoria Hegina
— a name given in honour of our illustrious Queen,
" who at once sways the sceptre of her happily-united
kingdom, and pre-eminently so that of the element
which this plant inhabits." Certainly, no other plant
has better claims to a royal name, for this is verily
the Queen of Flowers. Agreed as British botanists
universally are of the propriety of dedicating this
plant to our Sovereign, a good deal of discussion has
taken place in regard to the correct and first-pub-
lished name. From a careful and apparently correct
inquiry into the nomenclature of the Lily, by Mr

* Botanical Register, Miscellaneous Notices — 1838 — p. 9.

EOYAL WATER-LILY. 29

Gray (Annals of Natural History, vol. vi., second
series, 146), it seems pretty evident that the original
and first published name of the plant is Victoria
Regina, and that the name of Victoria Regia, which
has of late been so very generally adopted, is not
only of more recent origin, but apparently the re-
sult of a typographical error. After detailing the
various circumstances that have given rise to the
different names which have been applied to the plant
by English botanists, Mr Gray goes on to say — " I
think that this account proves that the name of
Victoria Regina, which received the sanction of her
Majesty, was the one first used and published, and
has the undoubted right of priority; and, I must
add, as a personal disclaimer, that I have always
considered that both the generic and the specific
name properly belonged to Mr (now Sir Robert)
Schomburgh, for it was he who proposed that the
plant should be dedicated to the Queen [originally
under the name of Nymphsea Victoria], and the
slight alteration made in his paper, before it was
read at the Botanical Society, was caused by our
having the means of comparison in London which he
had not at Berbice, and was regarded by me as a
simple act of friendship, such as was due to a person
in his situation."

The Lily is known by the natives of the districts
where it is found under different names, such as
Mururd, Irupe, Yrupe, Morinqua, and Dachocho.

30 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

This noble production of the South American
waters, from its extraordinary and conspicuous ap-
pearance, could not fail to attract the early attention
of the native Indians, who inhabit the districts of
country where it is produced. No doubt, its large
floating leaves, which entirely cover the lakes and
streams (and to which the name of Irupe is given,
from their resemblance to the dishes used for hold-
ing water), must have often proved a source of an-
noyance in the navigation of the rivers where the
plant abounds; and, indeed, the aborigines of some
districts, at least, are under the belief that the large
prickles with which almost the whole plant is so
abundantly provided, are of a venomous nature,
and thus they refrain from coming into contact with
them — a precaution which no European observer of
this magnificent production seems ever to have
thought of observing, while no evil consequences
seem to have followed the scratchings to which
botanical collectors have submitted themselves, in
their eagerness to possess specimens. Cautious,
however, as the Indians are in their intercourse with
this magnificent spinous Aquatic, they often manage
to possess themselves of its large fruit, half the size
of a man's head, for the sake of the numerous dark-
coloured seeds — not so large as those of tares or
lentils — which it contains. Although hard and shin-
ing on the outside, these seeds are quite soft and
mealy within, and the Indians use them as an article

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 31

of food, for which they are in great esteem. The dif-
culty of obtaining the rhizome, or root, no doubt pre-
vents its being applied to similar purposes, for which
it is probably as suitable as those of the edible Nym-
phseas, or Water-Lilies, to which we have already re-
ferred.

But long as the Irupe has been familiar to the
native Indians dwelling on the banks of those rivers
wherein it has its home, and well known as it has
been to them as an economical plant, yet, so far as
the civilised family of mankind and science were
concerned, it was long doomed to

" Blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

It does not appear very evident to whom we are to
accord the honour of the first discovery of this mag-
nificent Aquatic, for various candidates are in the
field. It would seem, however, that Hsenke, the fa-
mous but unfortunate botanical traveller, was the
first European botanist to meet with this vegetable
wonder; he found it in the marshes by the side
of the Rio Mamore, one of the great tributaries of
the Amazon, and his observations are detailed in
M. D'Orbigny's remarks, afterwards quoted. The
date of the discovery, although not precisely stated,
must have been about the year 1801. But it was
even long after that before any detail of the plant's
history was given to the world, and, indeed, before
European botanists knew of its existence — the first

32 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

full account drawn up being that by Professor Lind-
ley, in 1837, of which a few copies only were pri-
vately printed. Even the earliest mention of the
plant in print, according to Hooker, was in 1 832, in
" Froriep's Notizen," wherein it is described as a
new species of Euryale, under the name of E. Ama-
zonica. So little did European botanists recently
know of this vegetable prodigy, that even Lindley,
in the " Natural System of Botany," published in
1836, then spoke of the NymphseaceaB as generally
rare in the southern hemisphere, and entirely unknown
on the continent of South America. Since Hsenke's
time, the observers of the Victoria Lily in her na-
tive waters have not been few; and scarcely have
they been less enthusiastic in their admiration of the
wonderful plant than was that botanist, who, we are
told, fell upon his knees, in a transport of admira-
tion, on seeing it, and fervently expressed aloud his
deep sense of the power and magnificence of the
Creator in his works ! In fact, every succeeding ob-
server sees in this plant some new beauty to .admire
which former travellers had not perceived; and we
shall therefore detail the observations of the various
discoverers of the Lily in her native habitats, as
nearly as possible in their own words; for it is im-
possible to convey any adequate idea of the magnifi-
cence of the plant without adducing the concurrent
testimony of those who have seen it in its native
grandeur.

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 33

In the year 1827, M. A. D'Orbigny discovered
this vegetable wonder on the river Parana, at a part
of this " majestic stream" nearly a league in breadth,
although distant 900 miles from its junction with the
Rio Plata. He communicated specimens, along with
his other collections, to the Museum of Natural His-
tory at Paris, in the same year. He gives a very inte-
resting account of the Victoria Water-Lily, and also
of another allied plant, which he supposes to be a dis-
tinct species, although we feel more inclined to follow
the general opinion of botanists in considering it a
variety only, more especially since Mr Spruce has
recently observed different flowers from the same
root, varying in their appearance, and uniting the
characters of Victoria Regia and M. D'Orbigny's
second species, for which he proposes the name of
Victoria Cruziana. To the " Botanical Magazine "
are we indebted for M. D'Orbigny's remarks in Eng-
lish dress, and these are withal so interesting, besides
containing almost all the information that is known
concerning the supposed second species, that we must
introduce them here at full length. He says : " If
there exist in the animal kingdom creatures whose
size, compared with our own, commands admiration
by their enormous stature; if we also gaze with won-
der on the giants of the vegetable kingdom, we may
well take especial pleasure in surveying any peculiarly
wonderful species of those genera of plants which are
already known to us only in more moderate dimen-

c

34 KOYAL WATER-LILY.

sions. I shall endeavour to express not only my own
feelings, but those of MM. Bonpland and Hsenke,
for we were all alike struck with profound emotion on
beholding the two species of Victoria which form the
subject of this note. For eight months I had been
investigating, in all directions, the province of Cor-
rientes, when, early in 1827, descending the river
Parana, in a frail pirogue, I arrived at a part of this
majestic stream, where, though more than 900 miles
distant from its junction with the Rio Plata, its
breadth yet nearly attained a league. The surround-
ing scenery was in keeping with this splendid river;
all was on a grand and imposing scale, and being
myself, only accompanied by two Guaran'i Indians,
I silently contemplated the wild and lovely view
around me; and I must confess that, amid all this
watery waste, I longed for some vegetation on which
my eye might rest, and longed in vain ! Ere long,
reaching a place called the Arroyo de San Jose, I
observed that the marshes on either side the river
were bordered with a green and floating surface; and
the Guaranis told me that they called the plant in
question "Yrupe," literally water-platter, from y,
water, and rape, a dish. Its general aspect reminded
me of our Nenuphar, belonging to the family Nym-
pJiceacece. Nearly a mile of water was overspread
with huge round-margined leaves, among which
shone, sprinkled here and there, the magnificent
flowers, white and pink, scenting the air with their

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 35

delicious fragrance. I hastened to load my pirogue
with leaves, flowers, and fruits. Each leaf, itself as
heavy as a man could carry, floats on the water by
means of the air-cells contained in its thick project-
ing innumerable nerves, and is beset, like the flower-
stalks and fruit, with long spines. The ripe fruit is
full of roundish black seeds, white and mealy within.
When I reached Corrientes, I hastened to make a
drawing of this lovely Water-Lily, and to show my
prize to the inhabitants; and they informed me that
the seed is a valuable article of food, which, being
eaten roasted like maize, has caused the plant to be
called Water-maize (Ma'is del Agua). I afterwards
heard from an intimate friend of M. Bonpland, the
companion and fellow-labourer of the famous Hum-
boldt, that having visited accidentally, eight years
previously to my visit, a place near the little river
called Riochuelo, he had seen from a distance this
superb plant, and had well-nigh precipitated himself
off the raft into the river, in his desire to secure
specimens, and that M. Bonpland had been able to
speak of little else for a whole month. I was so for-
tunate as to get dried leaves, flowers, and fruits, and
also to put other specimens in spirits; and about the
end of 1827, I had the delight of sending them, with
my other botanical and zoological collections, to the
Museum of Natural History at Paris. Five years
afterwards, when travelling in Central America, in
the country of the wild Guarayos, a tribe of Gua-

36 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

ranis, or Caribs, I made acquaintance with Father La
Cueva, a Spanish missionary, a good and well-in-
formed man, beloved for his patriarchal virtues, and
one who earnestly devoted himself to the conversion
of the natives. The traveller, after spending a year
among Indians, may easily appreciate the pleasure of
meeting with a human being who can understand
and exchange sentiments with him ; and I eagerly
embraced the opportunity of conversing with this
venerable old man, who had passed thirty years of
his life among the savag-es. In one of our interviews,
he happened to mention the famous botanist Haenke,
who had been sent by the Spanish government to in-
vestigate the vegetable productions of Peru, and the
fruit of whose labours has been unfortunately lost
to science. Father La Cueva and Hsenke were to-
gether in a pirogue upon the Rio Mamore, one of
the great tributaries of the Amazon river, when they
discovered in the marshes, by the side of the stream,
a plant which was so surpassingly beautiful and ex-
traordinary, that Hsenke, in a transport of admira-
tion, fell on his knees, and expressed aloud his sense
of the power and magnificence of the Creator in his
works. They halted, and even encamped, purposely
near the spot, and quitted it with much reluctance."
Well, indeed, might Haenke feel a deep sense of
the power and majesty of the Almighty God of na-
ture, while beholding the bright blossoms of this ex-
traordinary flower ! Well might he be called to his

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 37

knees to acknowledge and to worship the Great
Creator ! Too few, alas ! go to see the wonders of
the deep with that devout and fervent feeling of reve-
rence towards their Supreme Author, which so well
becomes the scientific naturalist, and in the absence
of which he can see but the dim shadows of those
glories in the great temple of nature that are meant
as the heavenly monitors of man. Not a flower of
the field, not a leaf of the forest, not a twinkling star
in the innumerable host of heaven, but proclaims, in
language that " he who runs may read," a thousand
messages of heavenly wisdom ; and he who cannot
see the traces of the Almighty's hand in the humble
blade of grass, and the dewdrop that glitters in the
morning beam, need not go to foreign lands to dis-
cover Him in the more majestic forms of His handi-
work. Haenke could not be filled with a deeper sense
of the Divine presence when on his knees before the
magnificent Water-lily, than was the weary traveller
in the African desert, when his eye met the hope-in-
spiring little moss, which gave him hope in God. Lin-
naeus, also, the great father of Natural History, when
he first beheld the bright glow of the English furze,
instinctively fell upon his knees in profound admira-
tion of the lovely plant, and breathed in spirit, if not
in words, a devout and holy prayer of thankfulness
to God, under a deep feeling of gratitude for the
bountiful manner in which His creating hand had
adorned the earth with beautiful productions, mani-

38 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

festing the divine power and wisdom of their Creator.
Such examples as these exhibit practical and unequi-
vocal evidences of the fallacy of the opinions of those
followers of science (of whom we might expect better
things), who, in their researches into the works of
nature, seek not to trace the " footprints " of an all-
creating and all-sustaining God. If cold, scientific
research is of itself sufficient to gratify the genuine
student of nature, or if that nobler kind of knowledge
which profiteth to everlasting life is incompatible
with the pursuit of purely scientific discovery, why
do we find the immortal Swede, the greatest, the
truest, and the most scientific of all naturalists,
falling upon his knees in the midst of his obser-
vations, arrested in his progress by the manifesta-
tions of Divine power exhibited in the objects of his
study? We cannot well conceive a more heartless
and unhappy man than he who plods his weary way
along the gloomy paths of godless science, deaf to the
holy whisperings of nature. " There are two books,"
says Sir Thomas Brown, " from whence I collect my
divinity : besides that written by God, another of his
servant Nature, that universal and public manu-
script that lies exposed unto the eyes of all. Those
that never saw him in the one have discovered him
in the other. This was the Scripture and theology
of the heathens ; and surely they knew better how to
join and read these mystical letters than we Chris-
tians, who cast a more careless eye on those common

KOYAL WATER-LILY. 39

hieroglyphics, and disdain to suck divinity from the
flowers of nature."

To resume M. D'Orbigny's remarks: — "It was
some months after this interview with Father La
Cueva, that I was investigating the province of
Moxos, the only means of travelling from one part of
which to another is by water j and while I was go-
ing up the Rio de Madeiras, towards the source of
the Mamore, and often thinking over in my mind
the anecdote which the good old man had related to
me, I beheld in an immense lake of stagnant water,
which had a communication with the river, a plant
of such extraordinary aspect, that I instantly con-
cluded it must be the same as Hsenke had seen. I
also perceived that it was allied to the Water-maize,
already mentioned as found at Corrientes. Great
was my delight to find that this gigantic vegetable,
though of the same genus, still differed specifically
from that which I had seen before. The under side
of the foliage and the crimson sepals were quite pe-
culiar. Like Haenke, I made a perfect harvest of
leaves and flowers; but subsequent illness, caused
by alternate exposure to the blazing sun and drench-
ing rains of these flooded plains, brought on such
languor and exhaustion, that I lost my specimens of
this second species, and was thus deprived of the
satisfaction of carrying the plant to Europe. The
honour of naming the original and first found plant
has been forestalled by Dr Lindley, who calls it Vic-

40 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

toria Regia ; but to tlie one subsequently detected at
Corrientes, I propose giving the name of Victoria
Cruziana, in testimony of my obligations to General
Cruz, whose kindness mainly contributed to the suc-
cessful issue of my journey to Bolivia."

The following are M. D'Orbigny's previously pub-
lished observations, which are quoted in the " Bota-
nical Magazine," from " Voyage dans V Amerique
Mendionale : — " I resumed my descent of the Pa-
rana on the 3d of March, and, arriving at the junc-
tion of a small river, called the San Jose, which
spreads into a wide marsh before falling into the
Parana, I found one of the most beautiful flowers
that America can produce. The plant seems to be-
long to the family Nymphceacece, and is certainly much '
allied to the Nuphar, but its dimensions are gigantic.
The people of Guiana call it Irupe, deriving this
name from the shape of its leaves, which resemble
the broad dishes used in the country, or the lids of
their large round baskets. A space, more than a
mile broad, and nearly a mile long, is covered with
the large floating leaves, each of which has a raised
edge two inches high. The foliage is smooth above
and furrowed below, with numberless regular com-
partments, formed by the projecting, thick, hollow
nerves, the air in which keeps the leaf upon the sur-
face of the water. Leaf stalks, flower stalks, and ribs
of the leaves, are alike cellular, and covered with long
prickles. Amid this expanse of foliage rise the

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 41

broad flowers, upwards of a foot across, and either
white, pink, or purple — always double, and diffusing
a delicious odour. The fruit which succeeds these
flowers is spherical, and half the size, when ripe, of
the human head, full of roundish farinaceous seeds,
which give to the plant the name of Water-Maize
(Mais del Agua), for the Spaniards collect the seeds,
roast, and eat them. I was never weary of admiring
this colossus of the Vegetable Kingdom, and reluc-
tantly pursued my way the same evening to Cor-
rientes, after collecting specimens of the flowers,
fruits, and seeds."

Sir Robert Schomburgh, well known for his scien-
tific researches in distant lands, is a more recent
observer of the royal plant. In the year 1837, Sir
Robert, when investigating the natural productions
of British Guiana (on behalf of the Royal Geogra-
phical Society of London, aided by the English
Government), discovered the Victoria Lily there, and
he gives a glowing detail of the discovery, in a letter
communicated to the Geographical Society and the
Botanical Society of London, which was then re-
ported in various journals. His description and
drawing were the means of first directing the at-
tention of British botanists to this extraordinary
production, and furnished sufficient information for
Dr Lindley to prepare his illustrated history of
the plant, before referred to — of which, however,
" only twenty-five copies were printed for private

42 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

distribution." The following is Sir Eobert's letter : —
"It was on the 1st of January, 1837, while contend-
ing with the difficulties that nature interposed, in
different forms, to stem our progress up the river
Berbice (lat. 4 deg. 30 min. N., long. 52 deg. W.),
that we arrived at a part where the river expanded,
and formed a currentless basin; some object on the
southern extremity of the basin attracted my atten-
tion, and I was unable to form an idea what it could
be; but, animating the crew to increase the rate of
their paddling, we soon came opposite the object
which had raised my curiosity, and, behold, a vege-
table wonder ! All calamities were forgotten; I was
a botanist, and felt myself rewarded ! There were
gigantic leaves, five to six feet across, flat, with a
broad rim, lighter green above and vivid crimson
below, floating upon the water ; while, in character
with the wonderful foliage, I saw luxuriant flowers,
each consisting of numerous petals, passing in alter-
nate tints, from pure white to rose and pink. The
smooth water was covered by the blossoms, and, as
I rowed from one to the other, I always found some-
thing new to admire. The flower-stalk is an inch
thick near the calyx, and studded with elastic
prickles about three-quarters of an inch long. When
expanded, the four-leaved calyx measures a foot in
diameter, but is concealed by the expansion of the
hundred-petalled corolla. This beautiful flower, when
it first unfolds, is white, with a pink centre ; the

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 43

colour spreads as the bloom increases in age ; and,
at a day old, the whole is rose-coloured. As if to
add to the charm of this noble Water-Lily, it diffuses
a sweet scent. As in the case of others in the same
tribe, the petals and stamens pass gradually into each
other, and many petaloid leaves may be observed
bearing vestiges of an anther. The seeds are nume-
rous, and imbedded in a spongy substance. Ascend-
ing the river, we found this plant frequently, and the
higher we advanced, the more gigantic did the speci-
mens become ; one leaf we measured was six feet five
inches in diameter, the rim five inches and a half
high, and the flowers a foot and a quarter across. A
beetle (Trichius sp.?) infests the flowers to their great
injury, often completely destroying the inner part of
the disk; we counted sometimes from twenty to
thirty of these insects in one flower."

A paragraph which recently went the rounds of
the newspaper press, forms a not inapt commentary
on the circumstance last noted, and we here repro-
duce it : — " Insects generally must lead a truly jovial
life. Think what it must be to lodge in a Lily.
Imagine a palace of ivory or pearls, with pillars of
silver and capitals of gold, all exhaling such a per-
fume as never rose from human censer. Fancy, again,
the fun of tucking yourself up in the folds of a rose,
rocked to sleep in the gentle sighs of summer air, no-
thing to do when you awake but to wash yourself
in a dewdrop, and fall to and eat your bedclothes."

44 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

The discovery of the Royal Lily by Sir Robert
Schomburgh, and the interest which was thereafter
excited by the details of his researches, laid before
various scientific bodies, and quoted extensively in
scientific as well as literary journals, had the effect
of directing the attention of scientific travellers to
this extraordinary production; and several interest-
ing accounts of the Lily have been subsequently for-
warded to this country by various travellers, whose
searches for the plant have been successful.

In the summer of 1845, Mr Bridges observed the
Victoria in the vicinage of Santa Anna, in the pro-
vince of Moxos, republic of Bolivia. Whilst riding
along the woody banks of the river Yacuma, one of
the tributaries of the Mamore, he " had the good
fortune to come suddenly on a beautiful pond, or
rather small lake, embosomed in the forest," where,
to his delight and astonishment, he discovered, for
the first time, the "Queen of Aquatics" — the Vic-
toria Regina. " There were, at least, fifty flowers in
view, and Belzoni could not have felt more rapture
at his Egyptian discoveries than I did in beholding
the beautiful and novel sight before me, such as it
has fallen to the lot of few Englishmen to witness.
Fain would I have plunged into the lake to procure
specimens of the magnificent flowers and leaves ; but,
knowing that these waters abounded in alligators, I
was deterred from doing so by the advice of my
guide, and my own experience of similar places."

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 45

He found it necessary to procure a canoe. " In this
tottering little bark, we rowed amongst magnificent
leaves and flowers, crushing unavoidably some, and
selecting only such as pleased me. The leaves being
so enormous, I could find room in the canoe for but
two — one before me, and the other behind; owing to
their being very fragile, even in the green state, care
was necessary to transport them; and thus we had
to make several trips in the canoe before I obtained
the number required. Having loaded myself with
leaves, flowers, and ripe seed-vessels, I next mused
how they were to be conveyed in safety, and deter-
mined at length upon suspending them on long poles
with small cord, tied to the stalks of the leaves and
flowers. Two Indians, each taking on his shoulder
an end of the pole, carried them into the town — the
poor creatures wondering all the while what could
induce me to be at so much trouble to get at flowers,
and for what purpose I destined them, now they
were in my possession. . . . From each plant,
there are seldom more than four or five leaves on the
surface ; but even these, in parts of the lake where
the plants were numerous, almost covered the sur-
face of the water, one leaf touching the other. I
observed a beautiful aquatic bird, (Parra sp.) walk
with much ease from leaf to leaf, and many of the
Musdcapidce find food and a resting-place on them.
. . . The vegetation surrounding the locality of
the Victoria was not of that splendid character that

D

46 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

I could have wished. It wanted those noble palms,
the Mutacu and Palma real, which so beautifully
adorn the banks of the Mamore, to have made a per-
fect and enchanting picture with the Victoria in the
waters. The trees belonged to genera new to me,
and peculiar to this level part of the country.
Amongst the shrubs, I observed two species of Bau-
hinia, and a fine purple-flowered Bignonia, climbing
even to the summit of the trees."

Dr Campbell of Demerara — well known as the
original secretary of the Botanical Society of Edin-
burgh— gives an account of his visit to the. Victoria
on the Essequibo, in a letter to Professor Balfour,
accompanying some seeds of the plant. This interest-
ing letter was read to the Botanical Society at their
meeting on llth July, 1850. Dr C. says — " I enclose
in this a dozen seeds of Victoria Eegia, brought from
the Essequibo a few days ago by an itinerant collec-
tor, who seems to know their value, as he charges a
dollar (4s. 2d.) a dozen for them. I am afraid they
will not germinate after their voyage across the
Atlantic ; but this, at least, you must bear in mind,
if you intend to try the experiment, that the plant
will not live in an atmosphere within the influence
of the sea breeze, nor grow in soil or water where
there is the slightest saline principle existing. Such,
at least, is the result of experiments tried here. I
visited the locality of the plant in the Essequibo,
above a hundred miles from the sea, in 1846, and it

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 47

appeared to me a small lagoon, rather than a lake,
over which the river flows in the rainy season. It
is surrounded on all sides with a dense " bush " (natu-
ral forest), through which we had great difficulty in
dragging a small corial (wood-skin boat), in which we
embarked on the lagoon, which is a most gloomy
spot, the favourite resort of caymans, where the
sun can scarcely penetrate even at noon, and with
an atmosphere oppressively damp and hot. So far
as I could judge by sounding and examining the
stems of the plant, it appears to grow at a depth of
twelve or fourteen feet, in an oozy, slimy, muddy
sort of compound, with which, I presume, sand must
be mixed, for higher up the river there are immense
tracts of loose sand in the bed of the river, which
must be swept along with the torrent every rainy
season."

Mr Spruce, who is at present on a botanical mis-
sion in the South American wilds, and whose excel-
lent parcels, already received in this country, afford
ample proof of his activity and the success of his ex-
ertions, is also another recent observer of the Victoria
Lily, and the following interesting observations from
his pen have been published in " Hooker's Journal
of Botany" : — "We reached the igarape, and were
at once gratified by seeing the Victoria growing by
the opposite shore of the igarape itself. We were
warned by the people not to go amongst the plants,
as their prickles were venomous; but I got both

48 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

hands and feet considerably pricked without expe-
riencing any ill effects. We were fortunate in find-
ing the plant in good flower; but, according to the
testimony of all at Santarem who have seen it, the
leaves attain their greatest dimensions in the winter.
Captain Hislop assures me he has seen many leaves
twelve feet in diameter, whereas the largest we saw
measured a very little above four feet across, and they
were packed as close as they could lie. But I can
easily conceive how in the wet season their dimen-
sions should be considerably augmented; for where,
as at present, the plant is growing in less than two
feet of water, in winter the igarape will be filled to
its topmost banks, or at least fifteen feet deeper
than at present, while its breadth will also be
greatly increased, so that the petioles of the Victoria,
lengthening, doubtless, with the rise of the waters,
will bring the leaves to a much greater surface, on
which they will have room to dilate to about twice
their present size. The aspect of the Victoria, in its
native waters, is so new and extraordinary, that I am
at a loss to what to compare it. The image is not a
very poetical one, but assuredly the impression the
plant gave me, when viewed from the banks above,
was that of a number of tea-trays floating, with here
and there a bouquet protruding between them; but,
when more closely viewed, the leaves excited the
greatest admiration from their immensity and perfect
symmetry. A leaf turned up suggests some strange

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 49

fabric of cast-iron just taken out of the furnace; its
colour, and the enormous ribs with which it is
strengthened, increasing the similarity. I could find
no prostrate trunk, as in the other Nymphaeaceie.
The root is central, the thickness of a man's leg,
penetrating deep into the mud (we could not dig to
the bottom of it with our tresados), and sending out
fascicles of whitish radicles, about twenty -five from
below the base of each petiole, the thickness of a
finger, and two feet or more in length. The radicles
are imperforate, and give out here and there a very
few slender fibres. From the same root, I have seen
flowers uniting the characters of Victoria Kegia and
Cruziana (of the latter I have only the brief descrip-
tion in Walpers), so that I can hardly doubt their
being the same species as had been already more
than suspected. The igarape, where we gathered
the Victoria, is called Tapiruari. I had two flowers
brought to me, a few days afterwards, from the ad-
jacent lake, which seems to have no name but that
of the sitios on its banks. Mr Jeffreys has also
brought me flowers from the Rio Arrapixuua, which
runs into the Tapajoz above Santarem, and unites
the Tapajoz and Amazon. I have further informa-
tion of its growing abundantly in a lake beyond the
Rio Mayaca, which flows into the Amazon some
miles below Santarem. Mr Wallace, who recently
visited Monte Alegre, had a leaf and flower brought
to him there; I have seen a portion of the leaf

50 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

which he dried. Lastly, I have correct intelligence
of its occurring in the Rio Trombetas, near Obidos,
and in lakes between the rivers Tapajoz and Madeira,
so that there can be no doubt of its being plentifully
distributed throughout the whole of this region, both
north and south of the Amazon."

We have thus endeavoured, by descriptive remarks
and careful selections from the observations of bota-
nical travellers, to convey to the reader's mind as cor-
rect an image as it is possible to place before him of
the magnificent aspect which this Regal flower,

" Aspiring to the rank of Queen,"

presents in her native waters. We shall now proceed
to detail the Victoria's history as a garden flower.
Beautiful as was the western nymph, when she dwelt
alone, unknown, and uncared for on the bosom of
her native bays, it was only after science had taken
her by the hand, and declared her loveliness to the
world, that her merits were fully and frankly ac-
knowledged.

Immediately that the Royal Lily became known
in this country, an eager desire was evinced in bo-
tanical and horticultural circles to obtain its intro-
duction, in a living state, to our British gardens.
This desire was greatly increased in consequence of
the necessarily very imperfect dried specimens which
had been transmitted to this country, and which, al-
though "botanically examinable," as the results of
Lindley's examination show them to have been, were

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 51

fitted to convey but a very imperfect notion of the
magnificent character of the living plant. Accord-
ingly, we find that repeated attempts were made to
transplant the Victoria from the South American
waters to the gardens of Britain, but long without
success. No doubt, a minute account of all the cir-
cumstances connected with the long series of futile
attempts to introduce the Royal Water-Lily might
form an interesting chapter in the history of botani-
cal and horticultural science, and an instructive one
for the scientific travellers, botanists, and horticultu-
rists of future times ; but it is more in our way to
notice in detail those efforts which have been more
or less successful.

The first perfect seeds which reached England in
a condition fit for germination were those collected
in Bolivia by Mr Thomas Bridges (to whose obser-
vations we have already referred, p. 44), and which
were received at the Royal Gardens, Kew, in August,
1846. They were safely brought to this country
in a bottle containing moist earth, with which they
were mixed. These seeds produced only two plants,
the progress of which was at one time so satisfactory,
that they were confidently expected to flower. How-
ever, their melancholy history is thus briefly told : —
" By the month of October, they were in a thriving
condition, but soon after that time they began to
show symptoms of decay, and by the 12th of Decem-
ber they were both dead." A short and a sad tale

52 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

this, and one that well nigh blighted the hopes of
the most ardent admirers of the Royal Lily.

The difficulties attending the introduction of this
extraordinary plant seemed to increase. Even after
being thus successfully conveyed to the Royal Bo-
tanic Garden at Kew — an establishment affording
every facility for encouraging its growth — the Vic-
toria perished in a few months, before arriving at that
condition of development necessary for the produc-
tion of flowers and fruit, and was consequently lost
to our gardens. It was not alone the difficulty of
obtaining living plants or perfect seeds, and getting
them safely transferred to English soil, that stood in
the way of the Lily's introduction to Britain. Its
habits were new to our horticulturists, who were in
a great measure ignorant of the natural conditions
under which the plant was developed in the South
American waters, and consequently were ill pre-
pared to judge of the conditions requisite for its suc-
cessful cultivation under artificial circumstances. Its
gigantic size, and other peculiarities, rendered its
treatment peculiarly difficult; no plant, requiring
the same care, and attention, and favourable circum-
stances for its healthy development, had ever before
come through the hands of the gardener.

The tuberous roots of various species of Nymphsea
are capable of retaining vitality for a long period
after removal from their native waters, having, in
some instances, been revived by the application of

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 53

moisture, and successfully grown, after being kept
in dry sand for a number of years. This fact seem-
ed to point out even a more successful method for
transplanting the Victoria, than by means of seeds,
because, as was thought, if strong roots were once
obtained, they would have a better chance of success
in cultivation, and not require that amount of foster-
ing care necessary to insure the favourable growth
of tender seedlings. Accordingly, through the exer-
tions of E. G. Boughton,Esq.,M.D., of Leguan Island,
roots were obtained from the Upper Essequibo, na-
tive Indians having been specially employed by him
for the purpose. These roots were received at
Kew, in October, 1848, being packed in a glazed
case, but, on arrival, were found to be quite dead.
The same gentleman, anxious to insure the safe in-
troduction of the Victoria to Britain, did not cease
his exertions with this effort, but obtained some
ripe capsules containing seeds, which he forwarded
by the following month's mail. He also sent more
seeds in a bottle of muddy water, thinking that this
imitation of the plant's seed-bed, as prepared by
nature, might be successful; but neither these seeds
nor the seeds contained in the dry capsules germi-
nated, when sown at Kew.

Again, however, an attempt was made with seeds,
and was followed with success; from it we have to
date the introduction of the Victoria to the gardens
of England. This time, the seeds were put into

54 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

phials of pure water, and forwarded per mail to the
Kew Gardens by two gentlemen, whose names will
long remain on record in connection with the Vic-
toria's history — Hugh Kodie, Esq., M.D., and

Luckie, Esq., George Town, Demerara. The first
arrival of seeds from these gentlemen was in Feb-
ruary, 1849. These seeds proved quite perfect and
fresh; and three other importations, sent at different
times, shortly afterwards, all arrived safely at Kew
in the like good condition. By the end of March,
six healthy plants had been raised from the seeds
first received from Messrs Bodie and Luckie, and
those which afterwards came to hand continued to
germinate from time to time. More than fifty
plants were in all produced, and were in good condi-
tion by the latter end of summer.

So soon as the seedlings were in a fit state for
safe removal, they were liberally distributed to dis-
tinguished private cultivators and public gardens in
various parts of the country. It was only in some
of the establishments, however, to which it was
sent, where accommodation sufficient for the colos-
sal Water-Lily could be provided, and in such only
did the plants survive. In a few instances, under
the most favourable circumstances, have the plants
been successfully cultivated, and produced flowers
and fruit.

Among other gardens to which the seedlings of the
Victoria were sent, one was received on 3d August,

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 55

1849, at Chatsworth, the seat of the Duke of Devon-
shire, long celebrated as one of the first horticultural
establishments of Europe, and of peculiar interest to
the botanist and the scientific gardener, from the
magnificent display of rare exotic plants which it at
all times contains. Mr Paxton, chief gardener to
his Grace, being anxious to afford the Victoria
every accommodation, and, if possible, to bring it
into a flowering condition, immediately prepared a
tank, expressly for its reception, measuring twelve
feet square, wherein it was planted on the 10th of
August. Although the plant was of very limited di-
mensions when received from Kew, having only four
leaves, the largest of which measured only four
inches in diameter, yet it soon increased greatly in
size, and, by the latter end of September, nineteen
leaves were formed, the largest measuring three feet
six inches across, or about eleven feet in circumfe-
rence. The tank became so crowded of leaves, that
it was soon necessary to enlarge it to double its ori-
ginal size, to allow of the full development of the
plant; and it was not long before even that was found
insufficient for the extent of its gigantic foliage. Al-
though there were only thirteen leaves, yet the di-
mensions of each measured from four to four feet six
inches across, or from sixteen to eighteen feet round.
It was observed, that although the plant was thriving
vigorously, yet the leaves, which had always been de-
scribed by observers of the Lily in her native waters

56 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

as curiously turned up in the edges, remained quite
flat — an occurrence for which various causes have
been assigned. Even in this form, however, the
foliage was very buoyant, although certainly not so
much so as when fully developed under the suitable
natural conditions. It is related of the Chatsworth
plant, that a young lady enjoyed a sail on one of the
gigantic leaves, a board being placed upon it to pre-
vent her feet going through the fragile vegetable tex-
ture. Thus, as has been remarked., Homer's fabulous
story of Venus floating on the Water-Lily leaf might
be repeated as a practical feat, instead of remaining
a merely poetical fiction. When the plant increased
in age, the leaves presented a different appearance,
and the peculiar turned up margins, not observable
at first, became evident, so much so, that some of
the leaves are described as having " presented a per-
fect rim, like that of a common garden sieve," al-
though in no instance has this been so remarkable
as in the wild plant when grown in the American
waters.

On the 1st of November, 1849, a flower-bud ap-
peared upon the Victoria at Chatsworth, indicating
a condition of advancement beyond what had been
attained by any of the other plants, at Kew, or else-
where in England. By this time, thirty-one addi-
tional leaves had been produced, the largest of which
measured four feet ten inches in diameter. Some
of the more vigorous leaves, at particular stages of

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 57

their growth, are recorded to have increased in dia-
meter at the remarkable rate of sixteen or eighteen
inches in one day. On the evening of Thursday,
the 8th of the same month, between five and eight
o'clock, the petals of this flower partially opened;
but they again closed during sunlight on Friday
the 9th, and fully expanded the same evening —
thus rewarding the care, skill, and industry, which
Mr Paxton had expended in its culture, by accord-
ing to him the honour of flowering, for the first
time in Europe, the most extraordinary and the
most beautiful vegetable production of the tropics,
the successful cultivation of which had baffled the
skill of the celebrated horticulturists who had pre-
viously attempted it. On the morning of Satur-
day, the flower began to wither, evincing that rapi-
dity of development and decay which scientific tra-
vellers had observed of the Lily in its native lakes,
and which has been subsequently observed in all the
other instances of the production of its flowers in
England. The splendid blossom is thus described by
Professor Lindley, whose truthful pen is not easily
decoyed into the paths of eulogy, even in the de-
scription of the most extraordinary productions of
tropical climes: — "The flower itself, when it first
opens, resembles the white Water-Lily, of a dazzling
white, with its fine leathery petals, forming a goblet
of the most elegant proportions ; but, as the day ad-
vances, it gradually expands, till it becomes nearly

ROYAL WATER-LILY.

flat; towards evening a faint blush becomes visible
in the centre, the petals fall back more and more,
and, at last, about six o'clock, a sudden change oc-
curs; in a few minutes, the petals arrange themselves
in the form of a snow-white hemisphere, whose edge
reposes on the water, and the centre rises majesti-
cally at the summit, producing a diadem of rosy
points. It then . . . constitutes one of the most
elegant objects in nature. Shortly after, the expan-
sion of the central parts proceeding, these points fall
back; the stamens unfold in an interior coronet, the
stigmas are laid bare, a grateful perfume arises in
the air, and the great object of the flower — the ferti-
lisation of the seeds — is accomplished. Then fold
inwards the petals, the flower closes, the fairest of
vegetable textures becomes wrinkled, decay begins,
and the flower-stalk withdraws itself beneath the
water, as if to veil the progress of corruption. But
out of this decay arises a new living body; the fruit,
curved downwards, swells rapidly, and in a short
time a prickly seed-vessel is observed concealed be-
neath the floating leaves." The Chatsworth plant
continued to bloom profusely, and likewise produced
abundance of fruit and perfect seeds, which ripened
in December, and from which were raised a new pro-
geny to replenish the gardens of England. The ripe
seed-vessel of the Victoria has been described, from
specimens produced in this country, as exactly re-
sembling a Meerschaum tobacco-pipe.

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 59

It is worthy of notice, that about the middle of
February following, two self-sown seedlings came up
in the immediate neighbourhood of the parent plant.
The largest flower produced at Chatsworth in 1849
measured ten inches and a half in diameter. The
old plant survived the winter, though resting in the
water, in perfect health; and Mr Paxton, writing to
the " Gardeners' Chronicle," under.date 10th April,
1850, spoke of it as then "in the most vigorous
health — the leaves rapidly increasing in size, having
arrived at nearly the same dimensions as the largest
which was produced during the last season. A flower
opened on Monday the 8th instant (April), and mea-
sured thirteen inches in diameter; this is more than
two inches wider than any which had previously ex-
panded, the largest never having before exceeded ten
inches and three quarters. ... Of the plant's
duration, it may be well to state, that the flowering
specimen has formed large fleshy root-stocks, and
that its perennial character may now be considered
almost certain." We should mention that Mr Paxton
had the honour of presenting one of the earliest
flowers produced at Chatsworth to her Majesty the
Queen.

The following is the mode of cultivation so very
successfully pursued by Mr Paxton at Chatsworth, as
detailed in the " Gardeners' Chronicle" : — " In a hot-
house of sufficient dimensions, a tank was construct-
ed, three feet deep, and twelve feet square. To this

60 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

was added a ledge all round, nine inches deep, three
and a half wide, and heated by a triple row of small
lead pipes, through which hot water circulated. By
these means, the tank was rendered nineteen feet
square, with a deep centre and shallow sides. In
order to keep the water in motion, a small wheel
was added at one corner ; over that wheel water was
caused to drop continually with force enough to keep
the wheel constantly revolving; the water thus con-
tinually flowing into the tank is carried off by a
small pipe in one of its corners near the bottom. In
this way were secured the important advantages of
the water being so often changed that it could not
become stagnant, together with ceaseless gentle agi-
tation. Nothing could be more like the natural state
of a tranquil river. By the heating apparatus, its
temperature could also be regulated with facility.
The thermometer has generally indicated 85 degrees.
In the centre of the tank was introduced a hillock
of earth, consisting of burnt loam and peat. To the
burning of the loam Mr Paxton attaches great im-
portance; and this agrees with the daily experience
of those who employ burnt or charred materials in
gardening. The physical condition of the soil is
much improved by the process, and the weeds and
insects are destroyed. Mr Paxton is also of opinion
that the removal by fire of all matters ready to en-
ter into fermentation or rapid decomposition when
in contact with water heated to 85 degrees, was in

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 61

itself no inconsiderable cause of the success of his
experiment; in addition to which, it preserved the
water perfectly "translucent."

Although the Victoria produced its first blossoms
at Chatsworth, that princely establishment was not
doomed to be long the only garden that could boast
of this splendid flower. The success which had at-
tended the Chatsworth plant, under judicious cul-
tivation, gave a renewed impulse to the interest
which the Victoria had previously excited, and espe-
cially increased the anxiety of cultivators into whose
hands seedlings of the Lily had fallen, while Mr Pax-
ton's experience furnished them with a clue to its suc-
cessful culture. In April, 1850, blossoms appeared
on a thriving plant of the Royal Lily in the noble
gardens of his Grace the Duke of Northumberland,
at Syon House, rewarding the zealous exertions of
Mr Ivison, head-gardener of the establishment; and
it continues in vigorous health, producing abun-
dance of flowers. Mr Ivison gives an excellent ac-
count of the progress of the Victoria, and of the man-
ner in which it was managed, from the time it was
first received at Syon, in that elegant work, the "Gar-
deners' Magazine of Botany" (vol. i., p. 229), in which
is also published a concise and illustrated detail of
the Lily's general history. Mr Ivison says : — " The
plant at Syon was received from Kew in the second
week of September, 1849, being one of the num-
ber which was distributed about that time. It had

62 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

then four leaves, the largest being about four inches
in diameter. It was placed at once under similar
treatment to that which was so successfully pursued
with the Nelumbiums in these gardens some years
back, the basis of which was a constant circulation
of the water in which they were grown. This was
effected by placing three tubs at different elevations.
The upper one rested immediately over a hot-water
pipe. This warmed the water, which was then con-
veyed by a syphon into the one below, in which the
Victoria in a pot was placed, and which was plunged
in a bark bed. From this, the water was conveyed by
a pipe into the third and lowest tub, from which it
was returned into the upper one, again to follow the
same course of circulation. Under this treatment,
the plant soon became too large for its original pot,
and in about two weeks it was shifted into one of
a much larger size ; and, continuing rapidly to in-
crease its dimensions, it was removed into a wicker-
basket about two and a half feet in diameter by two
feet deep. About the same time, the size of the tub
was enlarged by fixing sheet lead to the upper part
of it, and dressing it out into a superficies of six
feet square, and about three inches deep at the sides
— thus allowing room for the increased length of the
leaf-stalks. In this situation it remained, producing
a succession of healthy leaves, until January 5, 1 850.
It was then removed into a low-roofed lean-to house,
in which Mr Beck had been ordered to prepare a

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 63

slake tank for its reception, twenty-two feet long by
twelve feet wide, and arranged in the following man-
ner:— the central portion was made two feet six
inches deep, for the reception of the soil ; the re-
maining part, over which the leaves were to expand,
was only one foot deep, which has been found amply
sufficient. :At one end, and elevated above it, is
placed a cistern through which pass two-inch hot
water pipes, connected with a single one of the same
size descending from it and continued all round the
shallow part of the large tank below, whilst the
centre and deeper part is heated by a four-inch pipe
passing entirely round it. These pipes are all con-
nected with a boiler, which heated the building
before it was applied to its present purpose. That
this may be clearly understood, I will enter a little
more into detail : — A large reservoir receives all
the rain water which falls on the glass erections in
this part of the gardens. From thence, it is pumped
up into a cistern which supplies the smallest one
placed above the tank in which the plant is growing;
thence, passing through a cock, it falls upon a small
wheel which, revolving gently, agitates the water,
and this, flowing towards a waste pipe, again finds
its way into the reservoir, from which it originally
came — thus keeping up a continued and healthy cir-
culation. The water is kept at an equable tempera-
ture of about 85 degrees Fah. by the hot water pipes
arranged as before described. The soil in which the

ROYAL WATER-LILY.

Victoria was planted consisted of three cart-loads
of good old turfy loam, which had lain in heap for
two or three years. Previously to placing it in the
tank, six inches of broken brickbats were laid on the
bottom, and covered with turves of peat. On these
the soil was laid in a conical form, rising to within
six inches of the surface of the water, and in the
centre of this the Victoria was planted. For three
weeks after its removal into its new home there was
scarcely a sunny day; indeed, it was generally very
foggy weather; and during this time it only existed,
making no apparent progress. The weather then
changed, and it immediately showed evident symp-
toms of growth. On February 1, 1 discovered on the
surface of the soil several white roots, unniistakeable
evidences of health under water; on the third, it
produced its first healthy leaf since its removal; by
the tenth, this was ten inches in diameter; at the
end of the month, seven leaves were formed, the
largest of which was sixteen inches in diameter;
during March, it added nine other leaves, the dia-
meter of the largest being nearly four feet. On
April 1, I discovered the first flower-bud, and on
the 10th, the flower began to open. It first opened
about five o'clock P.M., continued open all night, and
closed about ten A.M. on the following day. On that
day (April 11), it began to open about two o'clock
P.M., having gone through its various stages, reach-
ed its full expansion about six, when it was at its

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 65

greatest beauty. It continued thus for about four
hours, when it began finally to close preparatory to
seeding. On the third morning, the remains of the
flower were partly under water, and gradually sank
lower, but the flower-stalk continued to lengthen for
some time afterwards. I may here observe that, on
the morning of the day on which the flower first ex-
panded, the bud was seen to move itself as far as
possible in one direction, then back again in a semi-
circle, and finally raised itself out of the water to
rest and expand upon the young leaf, with which it
was produced. Just before opening, and during the
whole of the first night, the flower is very fragrant —
the perfume being that of the pine-apple; this .odour
is distinctly perceptible outside the house. At the
present time (May 6), the tenth flower is expanded;
it is twelve inches in diameter. I find that each suc-
ceeding flower increases in size. There are now
four more flower-buds visible; in fact, with every
young leaf, comes its attendant flower-bud. Since
the 10th of April, the Victoria has been in flower for
two successive days, missing the following one, with
very little variation. The largest leaf is now five
feet in diameter, with an inch and a half of its edge
turned neatly up, and forming a beautiful rim; the
under surface being of a purplish red colour, and
contrasting well with the deep green of the upper
portion. The formation of the under side of the
leaves is very beautiful. The large veins near the

60 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

centre are about two inches deep, gradually shal-
lower towards the edge, and connected with each
other by means of smaller ones, altogether forming
a strong network, the whole being armed with
powerful spines. The growth of the plant has lat-
terly been so vigorous, that it has become necessary
to enlarge the tank to nearly double its original size.
This alteration is now being made; when completed,
the deeper portion of the addition will be planted
with the different species of Nelumbium now advanc-
ing towards a flowering state; and at the corner will
be placed Nymphsea rubra, N. ccerulea, N". dentata,
and N. odorata, most of which are already in flower,
and are found to grow at a surprising rate in the
temperature kept up for the Victoria. Altogether,
I hope to form a very beautiful, fragrant, and inte-
resting group of tropical and other aquatics."

At the London Horticultural Society's exhibition,
in Chiswick Gardens, on 20th July, 1850, Mr Ivison
exhibited two leaves of the Victoria Water-Lily, each
measuring about six feet in diameter, and one of the
magnificent flowers. This production, as noble as it
was novel at such an exhibition, no doubt attracted
considerable attention from visiters; and it occurs to
us, that Horticultural Societies would do well to re-
ward the successful cultivators of the Royal Lily, and
otherwise encourage the cultivation of the entire fa-
mily of Water-Lilies. Although the improvement of
already well-known ornamental plants, and the in-

ROYAL WATER-LILY. G7

crease of their varieties, is a department of horti-
culture which is by no means on the decline, yet, if
we read aright the general aspect of horticulture in
the present day, the introduction to our gardens of
totally new productions from other climes, and the
successful cultivation of such as have baffled the ex-
ertions of the cultivators of former times, are cha-
racteristic and unmistakeable features which daily
increase in importance. Aquatic plants generally are
beginning to receive more attention than they ever
before received from cultivators; and our opinion is
not the result of an over-sanguine enthusiasm, but
of a considerate observation of the present tendency
of horticultural taste, when we say that ere long the
exotic Aquarium and the open-air pond, for the cul-
ture of aquatics, will be considered indispensable ad-
juncts to every garden of any extent.

The Victoria Regina has also flowered in the
Royal Gardens at Kew, where the first young plants
were raised, and whence they were derived by the
other cultivators. The previous failure in the culti-
vation of the Lily at Kew has been attributed to
various circumstances. . The bad quality of the water
with which the Aquarium was for a long time sup-
plied is, however, one of the most likely causes to
which the want of success has been assigned. Un-
der great care and judicious improvements in their
management, the plants at Kew have exhibited con-
siderable health and vigour, and produced blossoms

G8 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

profusely. The garden being freely open to the
public, one of the great sights of London during the
past season has been the Royal Lily, and many have
availed themselves of the opportunity thus afforded
of seeing a vegetable production, the like of which
has never before been equalled by any one of the nu-
merous trophies which botanical travellers have cast
at the feet of science. Admirable wax models of the
flower have also been exhibited in London, and at-
tracted considerable attention.

A botanical friend of ours, writing from London,
thus expresses himself, after seeing the plant at
Syon House and the Royal Gardens at Kew : — " My
pen fails me when I attempt to convey an idea of
the magnificence of the Victoria. Beautiful as is
Nymphsea alba, unfolding her snowy petals on the
bosom of our Scottish lakes, she sinks into me-
diocrity when compared with this monarch of the
waters. Nothing can equal the beauty of this ex-
traordinary plant, as seen at Syon House and Kew,
surrounded by its lovely associates, NymphaBa den-
tata, ccerulea and rubra, Limnocharis Humboldtii,
and the majestic Nelumbium speciosum — all of which
yield the palm of supremacy to their Royal sister.
You may think I express my admiration strongly, in
speaking of this vegetable wonder; but these expres-
sions do not even do it justice. The plant at Syon
House, which I have just left, with its noble flower
and fifteen gigantic leaves, some of them measuring

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 69

sixteen and a half feet in circumference, fills every
beholder with admiration. To me, it is the won-
der of wonders; and truly a befitting object to fill
the mind with reverence and awe towards the Al-
mighty."

Besides the establishments which we have noticed,
wherein the Victoria has flowered, it is also now
growing in many other gardens in England, partly
from plants distributed from Chatsworth, through
the kindness of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire,
and partly from those sent from Kew. Only one
Scottish garden can as yet boast of it — that at Dal-
keith Palace, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Buc-
cleuch, where the enterprise of Mr Mackintosh has
secured ample accommodation for the Eoyal plant.
We hope that he may soon be rewarded for his un-
wearied exertions by the distinguished honour of
being the first gardener in Scotland to flower the
magnificent Victoria.

From a paragraph by Mr Paxton, in the " Gar-
deners' Chronicle" of 28th September, 1850, we
learn (as these pages are going through the press)
that the original plant of the Victoria received at
Chatsworth from the Royal Gardens at Kew has
produced its 140th leaf and 112th flower-bud — a
few of the flower-buds produced during its partial
torpidity having been removed at an early stage of
their growth, lest so constant a succession of flowers
should debilitate and prove otherwise detrimental

F

70 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

to the health and vigour which it is desirable the
plant should sustain. It is stated to have seven
fresh leaves, and to have produced fine plump seeds,
from which a large number of strong and healthy
seedlings have been raised. These facts concerning
the original plant — the one which first produced
blossoms in Europe — are of interest, and worthy of
record in connection with the Lily's history. It is
gratifying to see that this individual plant is still
sustaining a condition of health and vigour, for an
interest is attached to it such as none of the other
numerous plants of the 'Victoria can possess.

Mr Paxton has, more than any other horticultu-
rist, shown himself a zealous cultivator of the Vic-
toria, and has erected a splendid new structure, spe-
cially for its accommodation, measuring sixty-one
and a half feet in length, and forty-six feet nine inches
wide, over the walls; the tank is circular, and mea-
sures thirty-three feet in diameter, while the centre
part, containing the soil for the plant, is sixteen
feet in diameter. This elegant structure is figured,
and its mode of construction fully detailed, in the
" Gardeners' Chronicle" (1850— p. 549), and intend-
ing cultivators of the Lily will do well to consult the
details therein given. Mr Paxton's Victoria-house,
planned by himself, afforded him the type of that
enormous structure now building for the Great Ex-
hibition of 1851, of the design for which he has the
entire honour. In his account of the new Victoria-

ROYAL WATER-LILY.

house, to which we have referred, Mr Paxton re-
marks : — " The accompanying design, described in
the foregoing paragraphs, is the type of my design
for the building for the Great Industrial Exhibition
of 1851. When the large Conservatory at Chats-
worth was built, a great point was gained by be-
ing able to have the glass manufactured in sheets
of four feet in length; but since that period the im-
provements in different branches of manufactures
have enabled me to make the present Lily-house
(though comparatively small) of a much more light
and elegant appearance. It occurred to me, that it
only required a number of such structures as the
Lily-house, repeated in length, width, and height, to
form, with some modifications, a suitable building
for the Exhibition of 1851. Hence arose the de-
sign for that structure, and the subsequent honour
conferred on me by its unqualified adoption by her
Majesty's Commissioners." The Victoria, which has
been planted in the new structure, is in a very
healthy condition, producing a profusion of flowers.
The new house seems admirably adapted for its pur-
pose, and forms an excellent model for such struc-
tures.

It is not alone the gardens of Britain, however,
that have benefited by the discovery of the Victoria
Water-Lily. The plant has been successfully intro-
duced to the lakes of Jamaica and Trinidad, and
now flourishes vigorously there, having been origi-

72 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

nally reared from seeds obtained at one of its lo-
calities on the Essequibo. The genial climate of
these islands is found to be highly favourable for
the development of this plant, and enables it to
be grown abundantly in the open-air ponds and
streams, wherever proper situations can be select-
ed. When grown in the open air, however, the
Victoria is very sensible to the influences of the
sea-breeze; this may prevent its very extensive cul-
tivation in such sea-girt islands, as it will be neces-
sary to confine it to the interior, beyond the reach
of the maritime breeze.

The editor of the " Kew Garden Miscellany " (Sir
William Hooker) mentions that his most recent let-
ters from Dr Falconer, of the Honourable East India
Company's Botanic Garden, dated 2d May, 1850, an-
nounced the arrival of the head-gardener, Mr Scott,
at that establishment, bringing with him seeds of the
Victoria, which, says Sir William's valued correspon-
dent, " will constitute a splendid feature in our out-
of-door tanks, surrounded with Nelumbium specio-
sum — which we grow almost by the acre — Euryale
ferox, and Nymphsea rubra, &e.; but we have yet to
ascertain whether the seed will germinate." The
Royal Lily will indeed prove a grand addition to
the magnificent aquatic vegetation of India, already
so rich and luxuriant as to strike every European
observer with profound admiration and astonish-
ment. Once successfully introduced to India, and

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 73

its growth encouraged, there is little doubt but it
may soon become a naturalised plant in the Eastern
waters, disputing the right to occupy the lakes and
tanks, with Nelumbium, the Indian Nymphaeas, and
other indigenous productions.

Scientific foreigners visiting England have shown
an eager desire to behold the Koyal Water-Lily, and
have evinced a deep interest in its history; the re-
sult will no doubt be the extensive cultivation of
this plant in other lands. But the Lily will like-
wise be reared by English hands in many parts of
the world. The banner of England encircles the en-
tire globe, and in every region where that banner
is seen to float on the tropical breeze, there, in the
silvery lake beneath it, will be also seen the Royal
Victoria Water-Lily, the namesake of our illustrious
British Queen — the attendant satellite of her sove-
reign's power.

The extraordinary interest attached to the Vic-
toria Regina — its truly magnificent and noble aspect
— and the remarkable success in its culture which
has rewarded the exertions of a few of our most
zealous and most celebrated horticulturists, will no
doubt have the effect of speedily extending its cul-
tivation in Britain, and of introducing it even into
many private gardens of comparatively small ex-
tent. It is not such a plant, however, as anybody
may cultivate. The accommodation it requires is
somewhat extensive, and the conditions requisite

74 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

for its successful culture are not attainable without
trouble and expense. Although the other tropical
Water-Lilies may be conveniently and successfully
grown in large tubs of water kept in an ordinary
plant stove, yet the Victoria cannot be grown, except
in its very youngest condition, without a structure
prepared expressly for its reception. Kecent im-
provements in materials, and decrease in their cost,
have, however, rendered the erection of such struc-
tures comparatively easy, and brought the means of
growing this plant within the reach of many who,
some years ago, would not have contemplated such
a profitless project for the mere gratification of their
floral tastes.

It is the opinion of Mr Paxton, that no tank of
less dimensions than fifteen feet in diameter will be
of sufficient size for the Victoria; and the new tank
at Chatsworth, which has been erected with the view
of allowing the Lily full scope (and to which we
have already referred, p. 70), measures thirty-three
feet across, inside measure — provision being made
for its enlargement to a considerable extent, if found
requisite. The heat necessary to be maintained is
that of a tropical stove; but there are other essen-
tial requisites in the cultivation of this plant which
must be carefully attended to. In its native habi-
tats, the Victoria has been observed to grow only in
open parts of the rivers, where it is free from the
shade of the surrounding arboreous vegetation on

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 75

the shores; and it has likewise been observed, that
under cultivation in this country, it is of paramount
importance to afford the plant as much air, light,
and sunshine as possible, although at Chatsworth,
" during the brightest weather in summer, it was
found advisable to afford some degree of shade to the
flowers, in order to prevent their becoming too fugi-
tive, perishing in much less time than two days."
However effective such a shading may be in lengthen-
ing the life of the individual blossoms, it is highly
probable that it may by no means contribute to the
general health of the plant, and is therefore, as a
general rule, to be avoided, more especially by in-
experienced cultivators. In the erection of a Vic-
toria-house, every precaution ought to be adopted to
secure as much light as possible, by dispensing alto-
gether with walls of masonry, and using glazed sashes
instead; by having the sashes and whole framework,
whether of wood or iron, made of the slightest con-
struction compatible with due strength; by glazing
with large-sized panes; and by choosing an open
situation freely exposed to the sun. A continual
supply of fresh water is also essential, which, in en-
tering, should be made to fall upon a small water-
wheel fixed at the surface of the tank — an ingenious
method successfully adopted by cultivators to give
a motion to the water, in imitation of the gentle
ripple of the Victoria's native rivers. It has been
suggested that this motion might be given by the

76 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

aid of ornamental fowl. No doubt, some tropical
aquatic species, associated with the Lily in her na-
tive waters, or belonging to the same regions, may
be well adapted for the purpose; they would add
life and additional interest to the Victoria pond. It
has been ascertained that the proper average tem-
perature at which the water should be kept is about
eighty-five degrees. It is also of importance to give
fresh air at all times, when it can be safely done with-
out unduly lowering the temperature of the house.
So important does a due allowance of fresh air ap-
pear, that Mr Ivison attributes the finely-developed
leaves of the plant at Syon House, with their turned-
tip margins (a feature not at first observable), to the
freedom with which air was admitted on all proper
occasions.

It is a curious fact connected with the Victoria,
and one which has important bearings on its cul-
tivation, that, although an aquatic plant, it will
not grow within the influence of the sea-breeze,
nor in water having the least admixture of saline
particles. Dr Campbell mentions that the native
station which he visited on the Essequibo is more
than a hundred miles from the sea; and Sir Eobert
Schomburgh records, that in his progress up the
Berbice, the farther up the river he proceeded, the
more gigantic and fully developed did the speci-
mens become. Attention ought, therefore, to be
given to the purity of the water used; and although

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 77

the influences of the sea-breeze cannot prove so de-
trimental to the plant under glass, as if it were ex-
posed to the external atmosphere, yet it will be well
to have the structure removed from the immediate
vicinage of the sea, when this can be accomplished,
and to use no sand or other materials impregnated
with salt.

Attention has recently been called to the applica-
tion of the principles of landscape gardening to the
cultivation of exotic plants — a feature quite novel
in British horticulture, and one which will undoubt-
edly gain ground with the advancement of the
science. The cultivation of exotic plants on the
shelves of a greenhouse, however well the speci-
mens are grown, conveys little or no idea of the
aspect the species present, and the manner in which
they are associated in their native lands; and yet it
is avowedly one of the great objects of exotic gar-
dening to present to the eye vivid pictures of na-
ture, as she is exhibited in the gorgeous vegetation
of tropical lands.

The inordinate taste for stiff geometrical gardens,
which — copied from the Dutch — prevailed to such
an extent at one time in England, is now a mere
matter of history, although its traces are not alto-
gether obliterated. Our plant-houses, or exotic gar-
dens, as they are generally constructed in the present
day, are essentially of the same character, although
they cannot be looked upon as a remnant of Dutch

78 KOYAL WATER-LILY.

gardening. They are, perhaps, more the result of ne-
cessity and convenience than of taste. The high price
of materials required for plant-houses, and other cir-
cumstances, render it expedient, where the mere cul-
tivation of exotics as individual objects, without re-
gard to artistic combination and arrangement, is
the object in view, to prefer that structure as the
best which offers the greatest capabilities for plant
accommodation at the lowest proportional cost. The
time was, when this principle was held equally ap-
plicable to the open-air garden, and when number
of species and varieties was considered the infallible
criterion by which to judge of the excellence of a
collection. Since then, however, landscape-garden-
ing has given to horticulture a more noble aspect,
and placed it in a wider field. Since it is now uni-
versally acknowledged that Nature is as necessarily
the cultivator's guide in the laying out of his garden
and the arrangement of his ornamental plants, as she
is his guide in the cultivation of the latter, there is
great reason to hope that in like manner the claims
of Nature may by and by be recognised in the for-
mation of structures for the culture of exotics.

It has been shown by Professor Lindley, in the
" Gardeners' Chronicle," how easily a fair specimen
of tropical scenery could be got up beneath glass,
without decreasing the plant-accommodation to any
great extent. We venture to suggest, that a struc-
ture raised for the culture of the Victoria, instead

ROYAL WATER-LILY. 79

of being merely a tank covered in with glass, and
containing th£ solitary plant, might be rendered
much more interesting by an attempt at the imi-
tation of natural scenery, and the introduction of a
few other aquatic plants to form a pleasing contrast
with the Royal Lily. A small waterfall at one end
of the house, verdant with moisture-loving plants,
might be made to supply the pond, and give to its
surface that gentle agitation so necessary for the
healthy development of the Victoria. While the gi-
gantic Lily occupied the chief portion of the pond,
the shallow margins might be planted with various
small aquatics, suitable for such situations; and, if
space allowed, a few other tropical Water-Lilies
might be introduced into the deeper parts. It might
obscure the light too much to run climbers up the
rafters, and hang drooping plants from the roof, but,
under favourable circumstances, this might be done to
some extent, especially in the summer season, when
there is an abundance of sunshine. In the formation
of Aquariums of all kinds, it has been strongly recom-
mended to steep the materials separately in boiling
water before being used, in order to destroy insect
life; and the mould into which the plants are to be
grown should also be well burned. The admirable
manner in which the other exotic Water-Lilies are
thriving at various establishments where they join
the Victoria in the occupancy of structures erected
specially for the accommodation of the latter, and

80 ROYAL WATER-LILY.

where they are treated in the same manner as that
plant, show how well a general collection of aqua-
tics, grown somewhat in the way we have men-
tioned, would succeed.

Before concluding our account of the Victoria
Water-Lily, it may not be out of place to allude to
the circumstance, that a drawing of this Koyal plant
occupies a prominent position in the diploma of the
Botanical Society of Edinburgh, which contains a
delineation of the principal vegetable productions
characteristic of the tropics, as well as of those
inhabiting our own northern land. The seal of the
Botanical Society of London is also adorned by a
representation of the Koyal Lily — another instance
of the great esteem in which the Victoria is held by
botanists.

THE GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY-
NYMPHJ1A ALBA.-

" A bed of Water-Lilies:

Broad-leaved are they, and their white canopies
Are upward turn'd, to catch the heaven's dew.
Near to a little island's point they grew;
Where Calidore might have the goodliest view
Of this sweet spot of earth." — KEATS.

OF the three Water-Lilies indigenous to the fresh-
water lakes and rivers of Britain, the Great White
Water-Lily (represented in the adjoining plate) is
certainly the most conspicuous, and is indeed one of
the most magnificent plants belonging to our native
Flora. It is this

" Flower of the watery plain"

which has especially attracted the attention of our
English poets — neither of the other two species being
recognised as poetical flowers. The lovely and grace-
ful appearance of this Naiad, the pure element which
she inhabits, the often highly beautiful and pictu-
resque scenery with which she is associated, as well

o

82 GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY.

as many interesting circumstances of her history,
conspire to claim for her the especial notice of our
nature-loving poets; and the fact that her Eastern
congeners — still held sacred by the natives of the
regions they inhabit — are mentioned in the earliest
records of literature, may be deemed sufficient of it-
self to draw the admiring eye of every lover of na-
ture towards this noble flower. "Well is it remark-
ed, in " English Botany," — " India may boast her
Palm-trees and America her Magnolias, but the lat-
ter scarcely exceed our Nymphsea in magnificence,
and the most noble and celebrated of all Indian pro-
ductions is, in fact, a Water-Lily — Nymphsea Ne-
lumbo. That, however, does not more exceed the
other vegetables of this country than this every Bri-
tish plant besides. It has altogether the air of a
tropical production." Certain it is that

" The large-leaved Lotus, on the waters flowering,"
is not more admired by the botanists of the East,
than is the White Water-Lily of Britain by the bo-
tanists of her own land.

The Nymphsea alba (as science terms it) may be
familiar to every reader who has wandered amid the
lake scenery of our land. Although the circumstance
of its being truly an aquatic plant, requiring deep
and still water for its successful development, has the
effect of preventing its universal occurrence through-
out our country, yet the Great White Water-Lily is
by no means rare. It prevails very generally on our

GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY. 83

British lakes, reclining upon the bosom of their clear
waters in peaceful repose, and adding greatly to their
beauty. In the quiet recesses of the Highland lakes,
especially, as Hooker has remarked, —

" The Water Lily to the light
Her chalice rears of silver bright."

And beautiful, indeed, the scenes which she adorns
often are — the islands of verdure formed on the
unruffled surface by her expanded foliage, studded
with myriads of majestic blossoms of the purest white,
which, reflected in the mirroring waters, give quite
a fajry aspect to the mountain lake. But much as
she loves the peaceful retirement of the Highland
waters, far away from the homes and the haunts of
men, she does not always seek this mountain seclu-
sion; sometimes her fair form may be seen upon the
gentle stream, or more nobly flowing river, where
the water is sufficiently deep, the current not too
strong for her delicate, yet stately form, and the
bottom soft, slimy, and muddy enough to form a
congenial soil for her deep rooting radicles :

" Mark where transparent waters glide,
Soft-flowing o'er their tranquil bed;
There, cradled in the dimpling tide,
Nymphsea rests her lovely head."

It may appear supererogatory for us to give any
description of this lovely lady of our Scottish lakes,
seeing that there are few flowers more easily distin-
guished, and few that can boast of so many personal

84 GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY.

admirers. But as our little book is especially inten-
ded to convey some knowledge of the floral Naiads,
to those readers who have not made the vegetable
kingdom the object of their careful study; and, as
aquatic plants wofully deficient in dignity of aspect
and gracefulness of form, when compared with the
true Water-Lily of the poets, are frequently mis-
taken by general observers for that plant, a few de-
scriptive remarks may not be wasted even on this
well-known species. To begin at the root, therefore,
where the precepts of botanical philosophy and the
examples of nature teach us to begin — that organ is
of a tuberous nature, forming a horizontal rhizome,
which generally lies near the surface of the soft mud
at the bottom of the water. From this rhizome,
proceed a numerous series of strong filmy radicles,
which descend to a considerable depth in the mud,
and are " fibrous at the extremity," according to the
author of the " English Flora," a circumstance ex-
tremely likely, although our own researches have not
been carried to sufficient depth to corroborate the
fact. The tuberous root or rhizome is said to have
" an astringent and bitter taste like the roots of most
aquatic plants that run deep into the mud." Although
the Great White Water-Lily generally prefers rather
deep water, and always those lakes and rivers which
the summer heat never dries up, yet the alternate
floods and drought which affect those natural re-
servoirs to so great an extent, have the effect of

GKEAT WHITE WATER-LILY. 85

changing its depth of water very frequently, and
the leaf and flower-stalks appear to be gifted with
the power of relaxing and contracting according to
the circumstances of the plant. In one instance,
recorded by Leighton in the " Shropshire Flora,"
the foot-stalks were observed of the extraordinary
length of fourteen feet; but it is probable that they
do not generally attain to half that length. The
leaves, which it is the purpose of the foot-stalk to
support, float upon the smooth surface, being some-
times so numerous as to completely cover large
portions of the pure element, and thus impart to it
their own verdant hue. They are oval, or heart-
shaped, with parallel lobes at the base, so that the
leaf appears as if partly slit up in the middle, but
otherwise quite entire. The leaves are of a stout
leathery texture, so "smooth and shiny, that the
water runs over them as if their surfaces were
oiled," and about nine inches, sometimes more, in
diameter. The blossoms are of the purest white,
the calyx leaves being occasionally very slightly
tinged with red. When fully expanded, the flower
is not unlike a double rose, there being several rows
of regular 'petals, gradually decreasing in size to-
wards the centre of the blossom, where they insen-
sibly merge into the yellow stamens; thus, it is in
every respect a natural double flower, differing in
no manner of way from those double flowers grown
by the florist, except that in the Lily there are al-

86 GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY.

ways left a sufficient number of unconverted sta-
mens for the purposes of fertilisation, whereas, by
high cultivation, the florist sometimes totally ex-
tinguishes these essential organs.

Alluding to the gorgeous double blossoms of the
White Water-Lily, Withering remarks: — " Botanists
often affect to despise the labours of the florist, who
wishes, by multiplying the petals, to produce double
flowers, stigmatising them by the name of monsters.
They may be monsters, but they are often beautiful
monsters. Who does not admire the flower of the
double-blossomed Cherry? And when, as in the
White Water-Lily, the petals are naturally multi-
plied to a great degree, the botanist who turns away
with disdain from this splendid object of creation
must be fastidious indeed. The petals gradually
lessen as they approach the centre of the flower,
where the outer filaments expanding in breadth gra-
dually assume the form of petals, as is generally the
case in the double flowers of our gardens." The
appearance of the splendid blossom has suggested
the name, which it sometimes receives, of White
Rose of the Waters. It has often occurred to us
that it resembles more closely, especially in the
purity of its flowers, some white varieties of the Ca-
mellia than any other flower: but it often measures
four or five inches in width. Some botanical authors
have attributed to the flowers of this Lily a slight
degree of fragrance, while others, with perhaps more

GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY. 87

candour, have declared it scentless. On this point,
Mr Luxford remarks : — " In the ' English Flora,' the
flowers are said to be without scent; I have found
them, on the contrary, to give out a powerful and
exceedingly disagreeable odour." Like the other
Water-Lilies, this one has its peculiar times of open-
ing and closing. Long ago, it was observed that

" When evening tinged the lake's ethereal blue,"

the White Water-Lily closed its pearly petals, the
blossom-bud floating on the surface of the water or
sinking beneath it. But

" The morn is up again, the dewy morn,

With breath all incense, and with cheek all bloom —
Laughing the clouds away with playful scorn,
And living as if earth contained no tomb."

And with the rising of the bright morning sun, the
beauteous Lily arises from her watery lair, decked
in new loveliness, fresh from the bosom of the crystal
waters —

" Those virgin Lilies all the night

Bathing their beauties in the lake,
That they may rise more fresh and bright
When their beloved sun's awake."

According to the observations of Linnaeus, the
flowers are not fully opened till about seven in the
morning, and close about four in the afternoon.

88 GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY.

This highly interesting phenomenon is beautifully
described by the poet :—

" But, conscious of the earliest beam,

She rises from her humid nest,
And sees, reflected from the stream,
The virgin whiteness of her breast.

Till the bright day-star to the west

Declines, in ocean's surge to lave;
Then, folded in her modest vest,

She slumbers on the rocking wave."

Like many other curious facts in Natural History,
this very poetical peculiarity of the Water-Lily was
long supposed, by men of science, to owe its exist-
ence entirely to poetic fancy; but Sir James E. Smith
(than whom no one is greater in authority on Eng-
lish botany) says: " The sinking of the flowers under
water at night having been denied, or at least doubt-
ed, I have been careful to verify it in this species.
The same circumstance is recorded of the Egyptian
N. Lotus, from the most remote antiquity. The
stimulus of light, which, indeed, acts evidently on
many other blossoms and leaves, expands and raises
with peculiar force those splendid white flowers,
that the pollen may reach the stigma uninjured;
and when that stimulus ceases to act, they close
again, drooping by their own weight to a certain
depth. The still more ponderous fruit sinks to the
bottom." Coleridge, perhaps more beautifully than
truthfully, remarks: " The Water-Lily, in the midst

GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY. 89

of the waters, opens its leaves and expands its petals
at the first pattering of the shower, and rejoices in
the rain-drops with a quicker sympathy than the
parched shrub in the sandy desert."

The fruit, or berry, of the Nymphaea, after sink-
ing to the bottom, as Sir James Smith mentions,
gradually decays, and the seeds thus freed from the
pulpy mass are dispersed by the action of the waters,
some of them probably sinking in the mud, to give
birth to a progeny of young plants around the pa-
rent, while others are carried away in the stream to
diffuse the species in waters which had not previous-
ly been adorned with the Lily's flower.

This splendid aquatic is not entirely without its
economical uses. Gray mentions that, in his day,
its roots were sometimes made into bread; but we
much fear our countrywomen have now lost the art.
Various writers mention that, in the Highlands of
Scotland, as well as in Ireland, the roots are used
to dye a dark chestnut, or brown colour; and Dr
Mackay states that, in Connemara, they are used
for dying wool black. Withering records the fact,
that swine eat this plant — the root, we presume;
but it does not appear to be a favourite article
of food with farm-stock generally; for he also men-
tions, that while goats are "not fond of it," cows and
horses refuse to eat it.

Like all the other species of Water-Lily , this one has
been applied to medicinal purposes; but its alleged

90 GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY.

properties do not seein to be recognised by the pro-
fession in the present day. The Rev. G. E. Smith
remarks : " The modern Greeks make a cordial of
its flowers; the eye, at least, is refreshed by their
spotless delicacy. I would willingly seek medicines
elsewhere; even the famished lion felt the power of
beauty, gazed, and turned aside !"

The cultivation of hardy aquatics has not been
much attended to in this country; but it is probable
that the impulse given to this neglected department
of horticulture, by the recent flowering of the Vic-
toria Lily, will have the effect of calling attention
very generally to the subject, and of inducing many
who have the means at command to attempt the
culture of the highly interesting tribe of water-
plants, more especially of the Water-Lily family.
It seems to have been too generally supposed by
those who have introduced these plants to waters
in the pleasure-ground, or to the more circum-
scribed pond of the flower-garden, that all that is
necessary is to find a sufficient depth of water; and
the roots or seeds being thrown into the pond or
stream, they are generally left to their fate. If the
effort fails in the production of the plant, more roots
or seeds are thrown into the water, the cause of the
failure seldom being sought to be discovered in the
unsuitableness of the pond or lake for such pur-
poses, or the absence of the necessary conditions for
successful cultivation, but complacently attributed

GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY. 91

solely to the stubborn nature of Water-Lilies, and
the difficulty of transplanting them from their na-
tive waters.

To insure the success of the Great White Water-
Lily, its large size requires that it should occupy a
pond of, at least, three or four feet in depth, and
have, likewise, plenty of surface room for the ex-
pansion of its wide-spreading foliage, which loses
much of its beauty when cramped into small space.
The piece of water should be freely exposed — morn-
ing, mid-day, and afternoon — to the full influence
of the sun, the arboreous shade, apparently, prov-
ing prejudicial to the entire race of Water-Lilies,
and preventing the maturation of their blossoms.
It has been observed that the present species, in its
natural habitats, occurs most frequently in those
lakes from which a stream issues, and whose waters,
thus kept in slight motion, and constantly though
gradually renewed, are clear and free from the filth
of stagnation. This condition should be carefully
imitated in the formation of an out-of-door aqua-
rium, as in its absence successful cultivation cannot
be expected. We have already mentioned that Mr
Paxton, very sensible of the importance of imitating
the natural conditions of the Victoria, kept a con-
tinual flow of warm water into the pond, the water,
in entering, being made to fall upon a small wheel
fixed at the edge of the pond and touching the
water, and the wheel being thus moved communi-

92 GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY.

catecl a motion to the surface not unlike the ruf-
fling caused by a gentle breeze. A Water-Lily-pond
should always be furnished with a plentiful supply
of clear water, and, while the supply is constantly
kept up, it is equally essential that provision be
made to run off the superfluous water regularly,
at short intervals, in order to preserve the purity
of the pond, which, besides being greatly advanta-
geous to the Lilies, adds considerably to the beauty
of the pond itself, and, on that account alone, repays
the trouble and expense. In these times of sanitary
reform, a piece of stagnant water should not be
accounted the ornament of a pleasure ground, yet,
strange to say, such ornaments are not unfrequently
found where their existence might be least suspected.
In the cultivation of aquatic plants, it is a great
error to suppose that, in every case, so large a pro-
portion of their nourishment is derived from the
surrounding water, that it is a matter of little mo-
ment what kind of soil their roots are made to rest
upon. The soil is of great importance in the cul-
ture of Water-Lilies, and with none of the native
species, perhaps, so much as the present. The
roots descend to a great depth, and it is, of course,
at their lower extremities where their nourishment
is chiefly obtained. The bottom of the pond should,
therefore, be formed of soft mud, heavy enough not
to be readily washed away; but by no means of a
clayey nature, although a clay lining may be made

GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY. 93

'beneath it, as is sometimes done, to prevent the escape
of the water.

The White Water-Lily being a perennial, the tube-
rous roots may be obtained from any of the lakes or
rivers where it grows naturally; the winter season
has been recommended as that best fitted for its re-
moval. If the pond is properly prepared, and the
hints we have given are attended to, it is only ne-
cessary to throw in a few of the tubers at the differ-
ent places where plants are wanted to grow, a stone
or other heavy substance being tied to them to pre-
vent their shifting, and the tubers will soon strike
root into the mud, and send up leaves and eventually
flowers to the surface of the water. Once establish-
ed, there is little fear of the continued success of this
Water-Lily; it will increase and multiply, so as to
render an occasional thinning necessary to preserve
it within due bounds. The roots of the different spe-
cies may be kept for a long period out of the water
without losing their vitality. M. Delile brought
roots with him from Egypt, and although they were
kept out of the ground upwards of two years, yet,
upon being planted in water, they immediately vege-
tated, and produced flowers.

The White Water-Lily may also be grown from
seeds obtained in the autumn, and sown at that sea-
son. The entire fruit may be committed to the
waters, and allowed to decay at the bottom, scatter-
ing the seeds amongst the mud; or the Indian plan

H

94 GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY.

may be adopted of imbedding the seeds in balls of
earthy matter, the weight of which settles them at
the bottom.

It is a remarkable circumstance, which every one
who has seen this Lily in her native waters must have
remarked, that, however plentiful the plant may be
upon a sheet of water or a stream, it never extends
its foliage or its flowers, even under the most favour-
able circumstances, within a certain distance of the
dry land, ceasing to grow where the water lessens
in depth. Nature thus places the blossom out of the
reach of many an admirer, and even sometimes tempt-
ingly tries the ardour of the more adventurous bota-
nist. This circumstance reminds us of a pleasing
story — "no fable" — which Cowper tells of his ad-
ventures one day with a Water-Lily, on the river
Ouse; and we dare say the reader will be glad to
have the anecdote in the poet's own words : —

" The noon was shady, and soft airs

Swept Ouse's silent tide,
When, 'scaped from literary cares,
I wander'd on his side.

My spaniel, prettiest of his race,

And high in pedigree
(Two nymphs adorn'd with ev'ry grace,

That spaniel found for me),

Now wanton'd lost in flags and reeds,

Now starting into sight,
Pursued the swallow o'er the meads,

With scarce a slower flight.

GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY. 95

It was the time when Ouse display 'd

His Lilies newly blown;
Their beauties I intent survey'd,

And one I wish'd my own.

With cane extended far I sought

To steer it close to land;
But still the prize, though nearly caught,

Escaped my eager hand.

Beau marked my unsuccessful pains

With fix'd considerate face,
And puzzling set his puppy brains

To comprehend the case.

But with a cherup clear and strong,

Dispersing all his dream,
I thence withdrew, and follow'd long

The windings of the stream.

My ramble ended, I returned;

Beau, trotting far before,
The floating wreath again discern'd,

And, plunging, left the shore.

I saw him, with that Lily cropp'd,

Impatient swim to meet
My quick approach, and soon he dropp'd

The treasure at my feet.
Charm'd with the sight, the world, I cried,

Shall hear of this thy deed;
My dog shall mortify the pride

Of man's superior breed:

But chief myself I will enjoin,

Awake at duty's call,
To show a love as prompt as thine

To Him who gives me all."

GREAT WHITE WATER-LILY.

Nymphsea odorata — a deliciously odorous species,
native of North America, being found " from Canada
to Carolina" — is very nearly allied to our British N.
alba, and, indeed, some botanists have applied that
name to the American plant.

THE COMMON YELLOW WATER-LILY-
NUPHAR LUTEA.

ONE of the many pleasing features of Nymphaea
alba, which conspire to render it so interesting in
the eye of the poet, is the snowy whiteness of its
flowers, which contrast so finely with its deep green
leaves, and are so effectively reflected in the crystal
waters. The Yellow Water-Lily, on the other hand
— of a hue which in flowers is thought to be essen-
tially " vulgar" by those who understand the sen-
timental whisperings of the floral world — wants all
that semblance of purity the possession of which
brings her fair sister so much good-will alike from
poets and prosers. The Nuphar lutea is accord-
ingly by no means so generally esteemed and ad-
mired as the Nymphsea; nor is it indeed so univer-
sally known as an inhabitant of our waters.

The Yellow Water-Lily is, however, no despicable
or inconspicuous flower; when congregated in num-
bers on the surface of the lake, this species, with
its broad leaves and large golden yellow blossoms,

98 COMMON YELLOW WATER-LILY.

is scarcely less showy in appearance than the
white flowered plant. It is, however, somewhat
smaller in all its parts. By the general observer,
the Nuphar will be readily distinguished by the
golden hue of its cup-shaped flowers ; but the
botanist finds more important structural distinc-
tions betwixt this plant and the Nymphsea, in the
number of the calyx segments, insertion of the pe-
tals, &c., which are considered sufficient to war-
rant their separation into distinct genera. Smith
was indeed quite decided in his opinion of the genus
Nuphar "being essentially different" in structure
from Nympheea; and succeeding botanists have cor-
roborated his views. In general appearance, the
foliage of the Yellow Water-Lily does not differ ma-
terially from that of the Nymphaea; but it has been
observed, that, besides the leaves which are pre-
sented to view floating on the surface of the water,
the plant bears a distinct set of leaves which never
appear above the surface, and which have been de-
scribed as tenderer, more undulated, and shorter,
their lobes being very much divaricated or extend-
ed, and hence approaching to kidney-shaped.* The
flowers, which measure two inches or more in width,
have an odour resembling that of brandy, a fact
which, we think, was first observed by Ray. In
some places — Norfolk especially, we are told — the

* Botanical Magazine.

COMMON YELLOW WATER-LILY. 99

epithet of " Brandy-bottles" has been applied to this
plant. The name has no doubt arisen from the
odour of the flowers taken in connection with the
peculiar " flagon-shaped" seed-vessels by which they
are succeeded. The berry or seed-vessel of this
plant, unlike that of the White Water-Lily, bursts
when ripe for the emission of the seeds, not dissolv-
ing into a soft pulp, as we have already noticed to
be the case with the Nympha3a.

We have already referred to the fact of various
species of Water-Lily being edible, and used for food
both by man and the lower animals; and even in
the case of the sacred Lotus, " Achilles was so pro-
fane as to feed his horses with it." The roots of the
Yellow Water-Lily, while they are eaten by some ani-
mals, prove poisonous to others. Withering states,
on the authority of Linnaeus, that the root rubbed
with milk destroys crickets and cockroaches; and
that, as already mentioned regarding the Nymphsea
alba, although swine eat it, goats are not fond of it,
and cows, sheep, and horses refuse it. The same bota-
nist mentions that it has proved poisonous to moles.
Smith thinks that the flowers are perhaps used to
communicate a flavour, by infusion, to the cooling
liquors or sherbets used in the Levant.

While the Great White Water-Lily chiefly inha-
bits the clear and still waters of the lake or the quiet
river, the Yellow Water-Lily, on the other hand,
dwells oftener in the running streams and ditches,

100 COMMON YELLOW WATER-LILY.

and especially in those deep pools formed near the
margins of extensive lakes, or in immediate connec-
tion with them. So situated, the Nuphar is often more
conveniently within the easy reach of the botanical
collector than the Nymphsea ever ventures. The pre-
ference which this plant shows for pools and shallows
seems to recommend it as peculiarly suitable for cul-
tivation where the accommodation of a large pond,
so necessary for the Nymphsea, cannot be had. It
must not, however, be supposed, when we mention
the plant as growing in pools, that, under cultiva-
tion, it will thrive in any sort of a muddy puddle.
All the family of Water-Lilies love pure waters,
clear as crystal, and attention to this fact is the
main element in their culture.

THE LEAST YELLOW WATER-LILY-
NUPHAR PUMILA.

THE various Water-Lilies which have occupied our
attention in the preceding pages are all distinguished
from the common races of plants by their gigantic
size, the gorgeous colouring of their blossoms, and
their general nobility of aspect, and may well be
ranked among the most imposing objects of the
vegetable creation. We now come to detail the
history of a species which wants all the superior
elegance and beauty that so pre-eminently distin-
guish its more noble kindred.

However different it may be with the ordinary
observer, the scientific botanist does not recognise
elegance of form and richness of colouring as the
only criteria by which to judge of the beauty and
interest of a plant; many peculiarities of structure
and habit he investigates, which could not enter
into the calculations of the non-botanical admirer;
and, accordingly, we find that the Least Water-Lily,
humble though it be, and faint the colouring of its

102 LEAST YELLOW WATER-LILY.

tiny flowers, is to the botanist one of the most inte-
resting plants that adorn the waters of our native
land. In the Victoria Regina is presented the most
lovely of all Water-Lilies, even the most gorgeous
member of the vegetable kingdom; but, in the little
Nuphar pumila, we see a plant essentially of the
same family, similar in its habits, and not far re-
moved in its structural characters, but proportion-
ally minute in all its parts as the other is gigantic.
If, on the one hand, the colossal size and gorgeous
colouring of the Great American Water-Lily excite
a reverential wonder and admiration in every be-
holder, it gives not the genuine botanist less cause
to wonder and admire, when his contemplation of
the tiny Nuphar discovers to him the same infinite
skill displayed in its minute structure, which equally
bears the same unmistakeable stamp of divinity, and
is equally a perfect and beautiful work — indeed,
"very good." And thus it is with all the other
humble things of creation. Even —

" A blade of silver-hair-grass nodding slowly
In the soft wind — the thistle's purple crown,
The ferns, the rushes tall, and mosses lowly —
A thorn, a weed, an insect, or a stone —
Can thrill me with sensations exquisite,
For all are exquisite; and every part
Points to the Mighty Hand that fashion'd it."

The Nuphar pumila is not only the least of all our
native Water-Lilies; it is also the rarest, being, as a

LEAST YELLOW WATER-LILY. 103

British plant, almost exclusively confined to a few
of our Scottish lakes. In general appearance, it re-
sembles some of the other species; but is very small
in all its parts — the leaves measuring about three
inches in length, and the flowers about an inch and a
half in width. Like the Nuphar lutea, its blossoms
are yellow, but of a paler yellow than the flowers of
that plant, and slightly tinged with green. The Nu-
phar pumila is supposed by some botanists of high
authority to be identical with the N. Kalmiana of
the American botanists — a species which inhabits
Canada, and which has been described as " almost a
counterpart in miniature of the European Common
Yellow Water-Lily." Indeed, it has been hinted that
the present is only a small variety of the preceding
N". lutea; but Sir James Smith considered this a
" most distinct species." It is generally recognised
as a species by the botanists of the present day, but
they do not seem to have entirely made up their
minds on the subject of its specific distinction.

The humble and unassuming aspect of this Water-
Lily does not give it a very strong claim upon the
attention of the cultivator; it is by no means a very
ornamental plant, although valued highly by the Bri-
tish botanist, and does not by any means form a con-
spicuous object on the open-air pond. However,
what it wants in show is made up for by its botani-
cal interest, which should find for it a place in every
collection of aquatics. From its small size, it does not

104 LEAST YELLOW WATER-LILY.

require extensive accommodation, and may readily be
grown in a small tub, or in a tank among other water
plants. Like the two preceding species of Water-
Lily, the Nuphar pumila flowers in the month of
July. The great attention which botanists have re-
cently been paying to aquatic plants (and which has
already been rewarded by several interesting dis-
coveries), give us reason to hope that this plant may
ere long be discovered in lakes to which it has been
hitherto considered a stranger.

INDEX.

Page

Achilles' horses fed on Water-Lilies 99

^Ethiopian Lily 18

Algje 20

Anacharis ... ... ... ... ... ... 11

Aquatic Plants 10

Berbice, Schomburgh's Discovery of Victoria on ... 42

Berry of Nymphsea lutea ... ... ... ... 99

Bonpland's Discovery of the Victoria 30

Botanical Geography ... ... ... 20

Bread made from roots of Nymphsea alba ... ... 89

Bridges' Discovery of Victoria ... 44

British Water-Lilies 20

British Wild Flowers 21

Butomus ... ... ... ... 11

Calla ^thiopica 18

Campbell's account of Victoria 46

Chatsworth, flowering of Victoria at 56

Chorda filum 10

Climate, its influences on plants ... ... ... 20

Common Yellow Water-Lily 97

Co wper's story of a Water-Lily ... ... ... 94

Cultivation of Victoria Regina ... ... ... 74

Cultivation of Nymphsea alba 90

Cultivation of Nuphar lutea ... ... ... ... 99

Cultivation of Nuphar pumila ... ... ... ... 103

Dalkeith Palace, Victoria at 69

Delile's experiments on Water-Lily roots ... ... 93

Discovery of the Victoria 31

106 INDEX.

Page

D'Orbigny's account of Victoria 33

Earliest notices of Victoria ... ... 32

Economical uses of Water-Lilies ... 14, 30, 89, 99

Egyptian Bean of Pythagoras ... 16

Egyptian mode of sowing Nelumbium ... 17

Essequibo, occurrence of Victoria on 46

Euryale Amazonica ... ... ... 32

Exhibition of 1851, Mr Paxton's design for 71

Flowering of Victoria at Chats worth ... ... ... 56

Flowering of Victoria at Syon House 61

Flowering of Victoria at Kew 67

Fragrance of the Royal Lily ... 26, 58, 65

Fragrance of the Great White Water-Lily 86

Fuci 10

Geographical distribution of Water-Lilies 13

Geographical distribution of Victoria 27

Geography of plants 20

Great White Water-Lily 81

Hsenke's Discovery of the Victoria 31,36

Hungary, occurrence of Lotus in 15

Hung-1 in of the Chinese 18

Introduction of Victoria to Britain 51

Introduction of Victoria to India ... 72

Irupe 29

Ivison's account of the Victoria at Syou ... ... 61

Jacana of China ... ... ... 17

Jamaica, cultivation of Victoria in ... ... ... 71

Jeffrey's discovery of Victoria on Rio Arrapixuna ... 49

Kew, introduction of Victoria to ... 51, 54

Kew, flowering of Victoria at ... ... 67

Least Yellow Water-Lily 101

Lily of the Nile 18

Lindley's Memoir on Victoria ... ... 32,41

INDEX. 107

Page

Lotus of the Ancients ... ... ... 15

Macrocystis pyrifera .,. ... ... ... ... 10

Mais del Agua ... ... ... ... 35

Marine plants ... ... 9

Medicinal properties of Nymphrea alba 90

Morinqua ... ... ... ... 29

Murura" 29

Muscicapidse on Water-Lily leaves ... 45

Mutacu ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 46

Name of the Victoria Lily, its origin, &c 28

Nelumbiace99 .. 12

Nelumbium speciosum ... 16

New Victoria House at Chatsworth ... 70

Nuphar Kalmiana ... 103

Nuphar lutea ... 97

Nuphar pumila ... ... 101

Nyrnphoeacese ... ... ... ... 12

Nymphsea alba ... 81

Nymphsea esculenta ... ... 15

Nymphsea Lotus ... 15

Nympheea odorata ... ... ... ... ... 96

Nympheea rubra ... ... ... ... ... 14

Ocean Flowers ... ... ... ... 9

Odour of Yellow Water-Lily 98

Opening and Closing of White Water-Lily's flowers ... 87

Parana, occurrence of Victoria on ... 33

Paxton's mode of cultivating the Victoria ... ... 59

Paxton's New Victoria House ... ... ... ... 70

Perennial character of Victoria ... 25

Pontederia ... ... ... ... 11

Portland Sago 19

Potamogeton ... ... 11

Properties of Water-Lilies 14

108 INDEX.

Page

Pythagorean Bean ... ... ... ... ... MJ

Rafflesia 24

Ranunculus aquatilis 11

Richardia africana ... ... ... 18

Rose of the Nile 16

Royal Water-Lily 24

Rio Mamore', occurrence of Victoria on ... ...31,39

Santa Anna, Bridges' discovery of Victoria at ... 44

Sargasso Sea 9

Schomburgh's discovery of Victoria ... ... ... 41

Sea breeze, its effects on Victoria 46

Smith's observations on horological nature of Water-Lilies 88

Sowing of Nelumbium seeds by Egyptians 17

Spiral vessels of Nelumbium, use of, among the Hindoos 1 8

Spruce's account of the Victoria ... ... ... 46

Starch in Water-Lilies 14

Syon House, flowering of Victoria at ... ... ... 61

Trichius in Victoria flowers ... ... ... ... 43

Trinidad, cultivation of Victoria in ... ... ... 71

Tropical scenery, imitation of, under glass 78

Vallisneria 11

Venomous nature of Victoria ... ... ... ... 47

Victoria Cruziana ... ... ... ... ... 40,49

Victoria Regina ... ... ... ... ... 24

Water-Lily family 12

Water maize ... ... ... ... ... ... 35

White Water-Lily 81

Wild-flowers of Britain 21

Yacuma, Bridges' discovery of Victoria on ... ... 44

Yellow Water-Lily 97

EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY J. HOGG.

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