NUPHAR LUTEA. YELLOW WATER-LILY.
N U PH A R lutea; foliis cordatis: lobis approximatis, calyce pentaphyllo, stigmate repando quatuordecim—
viginti-radiato, pericarpio exsulco.
N U PH A R lutea. Smith Prodr. FI. Grcec. ml. 1.p .3 6 l . Aiton Hort. Kew. e d .i .m l . S .p .2 9 S . Hook. FI.
Scot. P . I. p - 169.
NYMPHA5A lutea. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 729- H u is. Angl: p. 234. Lig h tf. Scot. p. 433. With. Bot. A n . ed. 4.
ml. 3. p . 478. (Ed. FI. Dan. t. 603. Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2. ml. 1. P. I. p. S41. Willd. Sp. PI.
— M B B Smith FI. B rit. p. 569. Engl. Bot. t. 139. Decand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. ml. 4. p. 630.
FI. Gall. Syn. p. 367. P e n . Syn. PI. .ml. 2. p. 63. Wahl. L a p p .p .131.
NYMPHA3A umbilicaris. Salisb. in Ann. o f Bot. vol. 2. p. 71.
N YMPHlEA calyce pentaphyllo, petalis majori, fractu conico. Hall. Hein. n. 1066.
N YM PH iEA lutea. Water-Lily with a yellow flower. R ail Syn. p . 368.
Bohem. Lekuta. Dan. Aekandel. Dut. Geelphmpen. Fr. Jaunet d’eau. Germ. Die gelbe SeeUume.
1-Iung. Sarga msi-tiik. It. Nenufaro g'mUo. Norw. Sjoblomter. Port. Golfido. Span. Escudete.
Swed. Necbad. Welsh. L ili melyn y dwr.
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Class a n d Or^ie r . PO LY A N D R IA M O NOGYNIA.
[Natural Ord e r . N YM PH jEACEjE. NYMPI-LEA, Salisb. PAPAVERACE-iE, Decand. HYDROCHARIDES,
Juss.)
Gen. Char. Calyx quinque— sex-phyllus. P e t ala plurima, receptaculo cum staminibus inserta. JBacca supera, multilocularis,
polysperma. Hort. Kero.
Gen. Ciiar. Calyx of five to six leaves. Petals numerous, inserted, as well as the stamens, upon the receptacle. Berry
superior, many-celled, many-seeded.
Radix magna, sublignosa, repens, fibrosa, perennis.
Folia omnia radicalia, longe petiolata, ovata, obtuse nervosa,
basi cordata, margine integerrima, undulata, pe-
tiolis compressis, basi triquetris.
PEDUNCULI, vel scapi, solitarii, teretes, longissimi, flexuosi,
uniflori.
F lores magni, lutei, basi extus sæpissime virides.
Calyx pentaphyllus, folidlis subrotundatis, concavis, peta-
loideis, luteis.
COROLLA : Petala numerosa, vix viginti, horizontaliler paten
tia, parva, foliolis calycinis triplo minora, cuneata,
retusa, intense flava, striata (subtus mellifera).
Stamina numerosa ad basin germinis, primum circa pistil-
lum erecta, demum patentia, atque etiam recurva:
Filamenta lata, flava ; externa præcipue petaloidea,
apice .obtusissiraa : Anther® e loculis duobus, sæpe
distinctis, flavis : Pollen flavum.
PlSTILLUM urceolatum, flavum : Germenrotundatum: Stylus
brevis, crassus : Stigma orbiculatum, subsedecim-ra- •
1 diatum; radiis fuscis, centro depresso, margine inte-
gerrimo.
Pertcarpium : Capsula vel Bacca subsicca, magna, urceo-
lata, c'ollo attenuato, viridi-fusca, glabra, basi calyce
cincta, apice stigmate, centro valde depresso, termi-
nata, subsedecim-locularis, polysperma,loculis demum
distinctis, atque pericarpio discussis.
Semina numerosa, plura in singulo loculo quam in Nymph era
alba, magna, olivaceo-viridia, nitida, glabra, ovata,
subacuminata, pendens. •
A lbumen copiosum, farinaceum.
Embryo ad basin seminis, prope hilum positus, extra-albu-
minosus, integumento albo, minute punctato, tectus.
Cotyledones subrotundat®, plumulam viridem, bine uni-
dentatam, includentes.
Radicula parva, ad hilum seminis versa.
Root large, inclining to woody, creeping, fibrous, perennial.
Leaves all springing immediately from the root, and borne
upon long footstalks, ovate, indistinctly nerved, heart-
shaped at their base, their margin entire, waved, the
footstalks compressed, three-sided at the base.
Peduncles, or flower-stalks, solitary, round, very long,
flexuose, one-flowered.
Flowers large, yellow, often green externally.
Calyx of five divisions, the leaflets somewhat rounded, concave,
petaliform, yellow.
Corolla : Petals many, in number about twenty, spreading
horizontally, small, about a third of the size of the
calycine leaflets, cuneate, blunt, of a deep yellow
colour, striated (bearing honey on their underside).
Stamens numerous, situated at the base of the germen, at
first standing erect round the pistil, then becoming
patent, and finally recurved: Filaments broad, yellow;
the external ones principally petaloid, very blunt at
their points : Anthers composed of two, generally distinct,
yellow cells : Pollen yellow.
P istil flagon-shaped, yellow : Germen round :. Style short,
thick : Stigma orbiculate, • with about sixteen rays ;
the rays brown, depressed in the centre, entire a t the
Seed-vessel : the Capsule or Berry nearly dry, large, flagonshaped,
narrower at the neck, of a greenish brown
colour, surrounded with the calyx at the base, terminated
at the point by the stigma, which is very depressed
in the centre, of about sixteen cells, many-
seeded, the cells finally separating from each other,
and dropping away from the pericarp.
Seeds numerous, more in each cell than in Nymphcea alba,
large, olive-green, shining, glabrous, ovate, slightly
pointed, pendent.
Albumen abundant, mealy.
Embryo situated at the base of the seed, near the hilum,
not immersed in the albumen, covered with an integument
which is minutely dotted with white.
Cotyledons almost round, including the plumule which is
green, and has a tooth on one side.
Radicle small, turned towards the hilum of the seed.
Fig. 1. Petal. Fig. 2. Petal approaching the stamen in form. Fig. 3, 4. Antheriferous petals. Fig. 5, 5. Stamens. Fig. 6.
P istil; the stamens, petals a1nd calyx being removed from the receptacle. Fig. 7. Capsule, with the persistent calyx, and
decayed stamens. Fig. 8. Capsule cut through transversely to show the cells and seeds. Fig. 9■ A cell which has fallen
away on the rupture of the capsule, and inclosing the seeds. Fig. 10. Seeds (nat. size). Fig. 11. Single seed. Fig. 12.
Seed cut through vertically, showing the albumen, the chalaza, and the embryo. Fig. IS. The embryo. Fig. 14. The
same with the integument cut through, showing the cotyledons and the plumule within. Fig. 15. Embryo, the integument
being removed, and the cotyledons spread open to show the plumule. Fig. 16 . The plumule.— all but Jig. 10 more or less
magnified.
Similar as is this plant in its mode of vegetation to the Nymphcea alba, there are yet abundant characters possessed by it
which justify their generic separation. The most striking of these is the different situation of their stamens, which in the
Nuphar lutea are all placed below the germen. Its petals, too, are quite dissimilar in form from the calycine segments, and
are so unlike those of most flowers, that if the statement o f Mr. Salisbury, which affirms that they bear honey on their lower
sides, be correct, they may, without much impropriety, be termed Nectaries. The form o f the stigmas o f the two plants is also
extremely different. In the fruit of the Yellow Water-lily, too, of which the remarkable form has obtained for it the name of
Water-Can, we may also observe some strong characteristics. This capsule is always accompanied by the somewhat enlarged
spreading calyx, of which the colour changes to a dark olive green. The pericarp does not decay away, as does that
of the Nymphcea, but bursts open irregularly, and the several portions of it rolling back suffer the cells, with their white
membranous coat, to drop out; each of which cells immediately incloses a number of seeds attached by their narrow points
to the inner side of the cell, as is shown by figure §. The seeds differ only in being larger, more shining, and destitute of
the impressed dots which are seen upon those of the White Water-lily: and the covering of the embryo in the subject of our
present consideration is marked with numerous minute elevated points.
With respect to the place of its growth, the Yellow Water-Lily affects situations similar to the W hite; still pools and
lakes are equally its favourite abodes, where it is even more abundant than the latter, flowering in July and August. The
blossoms are smaller, and being entirely yellow they do not recommend themselves to general admiration so much as the
beautiful pure white inflorescence of the Nymphcea. Their scent is singular and powerful, so much resembling that of
brandy, as to have obtained for this plant, in many parts of England, the name of Brandy-bottle.
A species which is nearly allied to the present one, but which differs from it by its much smaller size, and especially in
its deeply lobed or toothed stigma, which has also fewer rays, is the Nuphar minima of Smith (N . Thalmiana of Hook. FI.
Scot.). In thus referring the minima to the Thalmiana, I have probably committed a mistake, although the descriptions
which we have of the latter fully accord with the former, and a close examination of dried specimens appeared to me to
offer no essential difference between them : but to this subject I shall revert when I come to treat of the Nuphar minima.
The roots of the Nuphar lutea possess the same astringent and bitter qualities as are attributed to those of the Nymphcea.
Rubbed with milk, they are employed in Sweden to entice and destroy cockroaches and house-crickets. The smell of the
leaves is even said to be fatal to the latter. An infusion of a pound of the fresh root to a gallon of water taken in doses of
a pint night and morning, has been used with perfect success, according to Withering, in curing a leprous eruption upon the
arms, and, as is affirmed by Dodonajus, in removing “ a naughty scurf from the head.” -, ■. , . •
Hogs eat the roots and leaves of this plant. The latter, and the flowers, are employed in tanning, although the root is
found to possess still better qualities than^ either for this purpose.