SWEET SCENTED WATER LILY.
_Nymphæa Odorata._
“Rocked gently there the beautiful Nymphæa
Pillows her bright head.”
CALENDER OF FLOWERS.
POND-LILY is the popular name by which this beautiful aquatic plant is
known, nor can we find it in our hearts to reject, the name of LILY for
this ornament of our lakes. The White Nymphæa might indeed be termed
“Queen of the Lakes,” for truly she sits in regal pride upon her watery
throne, a very queen among flowers.
Very lovely are the Water Lilies of England, but their fair sisters of
the New World excel them in size and fragrance.
Many of the tribe to which these plants belong are natives of the torrid
zone, but our White Pond-Lily (_Nymphæa odorata_), and the Yellow
(_Nuphar advena_), and _Nuphar Kalmiana_ only, are able to support the
cold winter of Canada. The depth of the water in which they grow enables
them to withstand the cold, the frost rarely penetrating to their roots,
which are rough and knotted, and often as thick as a man’s wrist; white
and fleshy. The root-stock is horizontal, sending down fibrous slender
rootlets into the soft mud; the stocks that support the leaves and
blossoms are round of an olive-green, containing open pores filled with
air, which cause them to be buoyed up in the water. These air-cells may
be distinctly seen by cutting the stems across.
The leaves of the Pond-Lily are of a full-green colour, deeply tinged
with red toward the fall of the year, so as to give a blood red tinge to
the water; they are of a large size, round kidney shape, of leathery
texture, and highly polished surface; resisting the action of the water
as if coated with oil or varnish. Over these beds of water-lilies,
hundreds of dragon flies of every colour, blue, green, scarlet, and
bronze, may be seen like living gems flirting their pearly tinted wings
in all the enjoyment of their newly found existence; possibly enjoying
the delicious aroma from the odorous lemon scented flowers over which
they sport so gaily.
The flowers of the Pond-Lily grow singly at the summit of the round,
smooth, fleshy scape. Who that has ever floated upon one of our calm
inland lakes, on a warm July or August day, but has been tempted, at the
risk of upsetting the frail birch-bark canoe or shallow skiff, to put
forth a hand to snatch one of those matchless ivory cups that rest in
spotless purity upon the tranquil water, just rising and falling with
the movement of the stream; or have gazed with wishful and admiring eyes
into the still clear water, at the exquisite buds and half unfolded
blossoms that are springing upwards to the air and sun-light.
The hollow boat-shaped sepals of the calyx are four in number, of a
bright olive green, smooth and oily in texture. The flowers do not
expand fully until they reach the surface. The petals are numerous,
hollow (or concave), blunt, of a pure ivory white; very fragrant, having
the rich odour of freshly cut lemons; they are set round the surface of
the ovary (or seed-vessel) in regular rows, one above the other,
gradually lessening in size, till they change by imperceptible gradation
into the narrow fleshy petal-like lemon tinted anthers. The pistil is
without style, the stigma forming a flat rayed top to the ovary, as in
the poppy and many other plants.
On the approach of night our lovely water-nymph gradually closes her
petals, and slowly retires to rest within her watery bed, to rise on the
following day, to court the warmth and light so necessary for the
perfection of the embryo seed; and this continues till the fertilization
of the germ has been completed, when the petals shrink and wither, and
the seed-vessel sinks down to ripen the fruit in its secret chambers.
Thus silently and mysteriously does nature perform her wonderful work,
“sought out only by those who have pleasure therein.”[6]
The roots of the Pond Lily contain a large quantity of fecula (flour),
which, after repeated washings, may be used for food; they are also made
use of in medicine, being cooling and softening; the fresh leaves are
used as good dressing for blisters.
The Lotus of Egypt belongs to this family, and not only furnishes
magnificent ornaments with which to crown the heads of their gods and
kings, but the seeds also served as food to the people in times of
scarcity. The Sacred Lotus (_Nelumbium speciosum_) was an object itself
of religious veneration to the ancient Egyptians.
The Chinese, in some places of that over-populated country, grow the
Water Lilies upon their lakes for the sake of the nourishment yielded by
the roots and seeds.
“Lotus-eaters,” says that valuable writer on the Medical Botany of
America, Dr. Charles Lee, “not only abound in Egypt, but all over the
East.” “The large fleshy roots of the _Nelumbium luteum_, or great
Yellow Water Lily, found in our North American lakes, resembles the
Sweet Potato (_Batatas edulis_), and by some of the natives are esteemed
equally agreeable and wholesome,” observes the same author, “being used
as food by the Indians, as well as some of the Tartar tribes.”
As yet little value has been attached to this charming plant, the White
Pond Lily, because its uses have been unknown. It is one of the
privileges of the botanist and naturalist to lay open the vegetable
treasures that are so lavishly bestowed upon us by the bountiful hand of
the Great Creator.
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[6] In that singular plant, the Eel or Tapegrass, a plant indigenous to
our slow flowing waters, the elastic flower-bearing stem uncoils to
reach the surface of the water, drawn thither by some mysterious hidden
attraction towards the pollen-bearing flowers, which are produced at the
bottom of the water on very short scapes, and which, united by the same
vegetable instinct, break away from the confining bonds that hold them
and rise to the surface, where they expand and scatter their fertilizing
dust upon the fruit-bearing flowers which float around them; these,
after a while, coil up again and draw the pod-like ovary down to the
bottom of the water, there to ripen and perfect the fruit; a curious
fact vouched for by Gray and many other creditable botanists.
* * * * *
YELLOW POND LILY.
(SPATTER DOCK.)
_Nuphar advena._
And there the bright Nymphæa loves to lave,
And spreads her golden orbs along the dimpling wave.
THE Yellow Pond Lily is often found growing in extensive beds, mingled
with the White, and though it is less graceful in form, there is yet
much to admire in its rich orange-coloured flowers, which appear at a
little distance like balls of gold floating on the still waters. The
large hollow petal-like sepals that surround the flower are finely
clouded with dark red on the outer side, but of a deep yellow orange
within, as also are the strap-like petals and stamens: the stigma, or
summit of the pistil, is flat, and 12-24 rayed. The leaves are
dark-green, scarcely so large as those of the White Lily, floating on
long thick fleshy stalks, flattened on the inner side, and rounded
without. The botanical name Nuphar is derived, says Gray, from the
Arabic word _Neufar_, signifying Pond Lily.
Our Artist has closely followed nature’s own arrangements by grouping
these beautiful water plants together.
Where there is a deep deposit of mud in the shallows of still waters we
frequently find many different species of aquatics growing
promiscuously. The tall lance-like leaf and blue-spiked heads of the
stately _Pontederia_, keeping guard as it were above the graceful
_Nymphæa_, like a gallant knight with lance in rest, ready to defend his
queen, and around these the fair and delicate white flowers of the small
arrow-head rest their frail heads upon the water, looking as if the
slightest breeze that ruffled its surface would send them from their
place of rest.
Beyond this aquatic garden lie beds of wild rice _Zizania aquatica_,
with its floating leaves of emerald green, and waving grassy flowers of
straw colour and purple—while nearer to the shore the bright rosy tufts
of the Water Persicaria, with its dark-green leaves and crimson stalks,
delight the eyes of the passer-by.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _PLATE IX._]
SARRACENIA PURPUREA
(Side-saddle Flower)
(Pitcher Plant)
(Huntsman’s Cup)
* * * * *