The  flottrers  vary  In  form  and  colour  it
the  different  species,  as  also  do  the  leaves
The  best-known,  and  by  no  means  ^he  leas
beautiful,  bf  these  eminently  beautlfu
plants.  Is  the  common  White  Water-lily
N.  alba,  pretty  generally  distributed  ovei
Great  Britain,  but  found  also  in  other  parti
of  Europe,  and  in  Northern  and  Centra
Asia.  No  flowers  show  better  the  transf
tion  from  petals  to  stamens  than  those  oi
the  White  Water-lily,  and  they  are  also  in
teresting  from  their  power  of  collapsing
their  petals,  and  of  drooping  on  to  the  sur
face  of  the  water,  or  even  sinking  below
its  surface  during  the  night,  emerging  and
expanding  again  in  the  sunlight.  This  pe
culiarity  is  also  noticed  in  several  of  tlu
foreign  kinds,  as  in  the  Egyptian  N.  Lotxis
of  which  Moore,  in  •  Paradise  and  the  Peri,
thus  sings  :—

Thow  Tirgin  lilies,  all  tbc  nigbt

Bathing  tlieir  brautics  in  tlie  lake
That  they  may  rise  more  fresh  and  bright

When  their  beloved  lun  's  awake.
The  rootstocks  of  N.  alba  are  said  to  b(
used  for  dyeing  purposes,  as  they  contaii
gallic  acid,  and  also  a  large  quantity  ot
starch.  Itt  J'rande  tiiey  are  used  in  tlu
preparatiou  of  a  kind  of  beer.  Numeroui
species  are  cultivated  in  this  country,  8om<
of  which  deserve  notice,  such  as  N.odorati
and  the  small  variety  of  it,  N.  odorata  mitior
These  are  North  American,  and  resembh
our  European  species.  N.  8CiUifolia  ant
N.  ccBTulea  have  fragrant  blue  flowers ;  th<
latter  is  the  Blue  Lotus  of  the  Nile,  and  Jj
generally  met  with  in  English  gardent
under  the  erroneous  name  N.  cyanea.  On<
of  its  varieties,  and  also  another  speciei
called  N.  mieranthat  or  N.  guineensig,  an


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