V I C T O R IA R E G IA ;
I N F L O R E S C E N C E .
Peduncles solitary, single-flowered, short, rarely a foot in length, arising from one side o f th e base o f th e petiole. I t is n early an inch in thickness,
and is te re te ; in shape and structure, whether external or internal, exactly resembling th e petiole.
Flower-Bud from seven to nine inches long, including th e ovary. I ts outline is somewhat, b u t b y no means exactly, p e a r-sh ap ed ; th e base, formed
b y th e ovary, being hemispherical or subglobose, and th e re st o f th e b u d broad-ova te : th e ovary (o r calyx-tube adhering to th e ovary) is o f a brownish
yellow-green, very p r ic k ly ; prickles as long as, and more crowded than, u pon an y o the r p a rt o f th e p la n t; while th e u p p e r p ortion (c a ly x Jo b e s) is
da rk dull purple, pa le r a t tire edges, th e ba ck p rick ly ; prickles more spa rse and shorte r th an those o f th e ovary, and becoming obsolete towards the
edges and apex.
F L O W E R S . ; ,
I f we have spoken o f th e leaves as among th e most remarkable in dimensions and stru c tu re o f any known foliage, we th in k th a t, i f size and beauty
and fragrance b e unitedly considered, th e palm o f pre-eminence m u st be equally given to th e blossom o f Victoria. W h en fully expanded th e Flower
from which our figure (Tab. I I I . ) was taken, measured fourteen inches in diameter, th re e fe e t six inches in circumference; Schomburgk has measured
blossoms fifteen and sixteen inches across, ©pinions may differ in regard to th e beauty o f two states more or less advanced o f th e flower, whether as
seen in our Tab. I I ., where it is ra th e r more than h a lf expanded, or when “ full-blown,” (Tab. I I I .) W e unquestionably give th e preference to
th e former; nothing can exceed th e delicacy o f tex tu re an d p urity o f whiteness in th a t; and i t is th en th a t th e fragrance is th e most powerful. Gay and
b right as is th e admixture o f colour in th e fully expanded flower (Tab. I I I .) , i t is n o t so beautiful in our eyes, and is, too, we hesitate n o t to confess, in
reality, d ue to th e early stage o f decay. B u t we must n ote th e pa rticula r conditions o f th e flower from its earliest state, to th a t o f maturity and decline.
When th e bud first emerges from th e scale (Tab. I I I ., right-hand figure), i t rises e r e c t: as th e pedunc le lengthens, and th e b u d increases in magnitude,
th e la tte r lies inclined on th e surface o f th e w a te r; and, on attaining its full dimensions (a s a b u d ), it exhibits th e pa le edges o f th e calyx-lobes (which
were slightly imbricated), and, what is a su re r sign o f th e approaching expansion o f th e flower, four white lines o f th e petals within. In finp. summer
weather, the p lan t b eing in high health and vigour, about te n o’clock in th e d ay m ay b e considered th e usua l h our for th e b u rsting o f th e flower-bud: this
process is more o r less rapid, according to th e amount o f light and h e a t ; and b y about two in th e afternoon, this one flower-bud (for no more th an one
ever opens a t a time), h aying gradually raised its e lf h ighe r o u t o f th e water, b u t still lying obliquely and dipping gracefully into it, is seen in th e
condition exhibited a t Tab. I I . In this sta te th e blossom is deliciously fragrant, and th e re is an absence o f regularity or symmetry, which, in our mind,'
enhances its beauty. There is an obliquity in th e flower, as i f with th e object o f presenting its e lf more perfectly to th e visitor. T h e la rg e calyx-lobes,
though all are expanded, a re y e t expanded unequally ; one o r m ore rises perpendicularly, while th e others a re p a ten t o r deflexed, and wholly immersed
Some o f die g re a t petals, too, lie gracefully, like white boats, touching th e water with th e ir u n d e r side.. All, save th e calyx, is clear white, o r with
only a slight tinge o f yellow h e re and there, as i f to s e t off to gre a te r advantage th e snowy p u rity o f th e r e s t; and in this condition i t remains th a t
n ight and during p a rt o f th e second day> o r p artially closes.
Between this sta te now described and th e full expansion, th e re may b e reckoned two different stages, i f I m ay so say, o f temporary rest, worthy
recording, b u t which could n o t b e represented o f th e n a tura l size w ithout increasing too much th e bu lk and expense o f this Monograph; th ey a re therefore
given in woodcuts, (see Vignettes, Bigg. I . and I I .) A t about two o r th re e in th e afternoon o f th e second d ay th e flower will b e seen a gain as a t our Tab. I I .,
and, soon, to have its petals gradually b ecoming more p a te n t and more regular in disposition; i.e., m ore equally s pre ading on all sides, till we come to
what w ould be generally considered as th e innermost series o f petals, b u t w hich I am disposed to look u p o n as th e outermost series o f stamens; for the
petals themselves nowhere constitute an uniform series. These petaloid stamens then, in th e first o f th e two stages to which I have ju s t; a lu d e d , continue,,
after th e spreading o f th e petals, for a period o f time, in a nearly e rect p osition ; th e lower p ortion, however, having a n outward curve, to fit themselves;,
as i t were, to the mass o f still closed stamens th a t lie w ith in : th ey are about sixteen in number, four or five inches long* an d form a regula r corona
around th e other unexpanded stamens (see w oodcut, Fig. I .) , b u t in shape and colour resembling th e petals, exc ept th a t th ey have, towards th e base, a
tinge o f rose. Afte r a longer or shorter time, apparently influenced b y th e gre a te r o r less v igour o f th e plant, the se petaloid stamens become rather
suddenly pa tent, and bring to view th e deep-coloured in n e r ranges o f rose-coloured stamens, which are all incurved, meeting a t th e points,, n o t unlike
th e peristome o f a m oss before its expansion; o r p erhaps th e resemblance is still g re a te r to th a t sta te o f d boiled artichoke after th e fleshy'scales have
be en removed, and when th e inne r scariose Ones c o v e r and conceal th e receptacle o f young flowers (se e o u r w oodcut, Fig. I I .) N o t long does this
condition of the flower remain, for gradually do th e several series o f stamens spre ad more o r less (th e in n e r ones alone incurved), and tire whole flower
V I C T O R IA R E G IA .
take s its most p erfect and complete form a t pe rhaps five o r six in th e afternoon (Tab. I I I . ) ; but, a t th e same time, while this almost visible spreading o f
th e stamens goes on, th e p u re w hite o f th e petals assumes a d ingy sulphur-yellow h u e ; th e oute r petaloid series o f stamens a still deepe r y ellow; the
rose-colour becomes da rker, th e spots more pronounced, and th e re d and yellow o f th e inner stamens increase in intensity. T h e flowers now very soon
have th e calyx-lobes and petals deflexed, and, with a sort o f elastic firmness th a t preventstfor a time the ir being brought u p to their former position by the
h a n d : a t length th e firm calyx closes over th e w ithered petals, decay rapidly supervenes, and in a few days th e withered floral coverings and stamens
an d appendages to th e margin o f th e torus fall away, and th e fruit is frilly formed, when i t sinks unde r water, there to ripen its seeds. The next
day, generally, sometimes n o t till th e day after, another flower shows itself, and goes through th e same routine o f changes.
I f a flower b e Cut in th e morning o f th e second d a y o f its expansion from a healthy plant, i t may be seen to pass through its various stages o f
evolution as i f on th e p a ren t stalk. W e h ad a striking instance o f this one d ay in August, on occasion o f a visit to Osborne, when a second day’s flower
was. cut, about te n o’clock in th e morning, placed in a p h ia l o f water, surrounded by moist m oss, and deposited in a cylindrical tin box, large enough
to allow th e full expansion, and having a side door. I t s progress was watched during th e journey, an d on board th e steamer, and a t six in th e afternoon
H e r Majesty h ad th e gratification o f seeing th e flower in as gre a t p erfection as i t could have been exhibited in th e heated stove o f Kew.
To proc e ed with our botanical description:—T h e Calyx, as already described in th e state o f bud, has its tube hemispherical (o r subglobose),
densely c lothed with p a te n t prickles, crowned with th e large limb o f four, rarely five, broad ovate lobes, between fleshy and coriaceous, dark purple
externally, a n d clothed with sh o rt scattered p rick le s ; internally greenish-white, satiny.
Petals numerous (50-60), large, imbricating, between fleshy and membranaceous, inserted irregularly upon the ba ck o f a large annular fleshy torus
which is s itua ted a t th e mouth o f th e c a lyx-tube; th ey axe oblong-spathulate, obtuse, white, concave, th e o ute r ones five and six inches long, inner ones
gradually smaller. Schomburgk correctly observed th a t th e petals next, th e calyx are fleshy and possess air-cells, which must contribute to the
buoyancy o f th e flowers on th e water.
Stamens.—-In Nympluea and other Nymp/ueaceous plants, th e stamens are se en passing b y almost insensible gradations into petals, and they have been
described so h e r e ; b u t we think th e re is in Victoria a clearly defined limit between th e stamens and petals, best seen, perhaps, in th e sta te o f th e flower
represented in our woodcut, (F ig . 1.), where a crown o r circle o f e re c t petaloid bodies encloses six or seven series o f most decided stamens within
them, (Tab. IV., F ig. 10, and p a r t o f 12). A ll these, inserted upo n th e to p or ba ck o f th e annular torus above mentioned, and hence, to a certain degree,
monadelphous> may b e looked upo n as th e staminal crown. T h e stamens, composing th e innermost rank o f tkem> a re sterile, thick, fleshy, lie
densely packed ne a rly horizontally, y e t in an ascending .direction u pon th e b a ck o f certain appendages to th e stigma, generally one to every two such
appendages, and th ey seem slightly to cohere w ith them. T h e n ex t four o r five ranks which surround th e innermost ones consist o f perfect stamens;
filaments b roadly subulate, red, fleshy, b u t rigid, bearing th e yellowish, linear, 2-celled anther on its inne r face, below th e sharp ap e x ; th e cells separated
b y a narrow connective, and su n k in th e substance o f th e filament. A round the se is a ran k o r circle o f petaloid stamens (a s seen a t Tab. IV.,
F ig. 9 ), y ellow, tip p ed with red, and be a ring v ery imperfect anthers. The circle, or crown, first alluded to, surrounds these, and is quite petaloid, white
(soon sta ined with yellow), streaked and spotted with rose-colour* The filaments o f the stamens have air-cells as well as th e petals. Pollen grains
(Tab. IV ., Fig. 11) consisting o f th re e o r four cohering cells, very pellucid, pale yellow, showing a limbus.
Pistil. Ovary, including th e tube o f th e calyx, hemispherical (Tab. IV ., Figg. 9, 15), many-celled (cells 3 0 4 0 ) , with a v ery considerable depression
a t th e top, formed by th e sessile, concave, o r deeply cup-shaped stigma, which ha s a conical fleshy column in th e centre, as in Nympluea, and the
surface is granulated, an d furrowed b y a g re a t number o f lines (as many as there are cells to th e ovary) radiating from th e centre to the circumference,
(Tab. IV ., Fig. 9 ), crenated, o r toothed a t th e margin, constituting th e stigmatic surface, as shown by Mr. Brown. Immediately a t th e edge or margin of
this stigma is a closely pa ck ed series o f remarkable bodies (see Tab. IV., Figg. 9, 12, where two o f the se are repre sented); they seem, a t first sight,
to b e a continuation o f th e rays o f th e stigma, consequently exactly equalling them in number, applied in p a r t to th e inner face o f th e annular torus,
to which they slightly cohere, an d in p a r t to th e inner base o f th e innermost (sterile) row o f stamens which lie over th em ; they are closely packed,
laterally compressed, curved or b e n t a t an angle ; broad below, tapering to a p oint above, b u t i t is a t th e base th a t th ey are more firmly attached and
less easily separated. Exte rna lly th e y have a thin membranous integument, q u ite different from th e firm texture o f th e stigmatic surface adjacent;
d ie b a ck is purplish brown, th e sides pale. Internally th ey are yellowish, laxly cellular, sp o n g y ; in age th ey appe a r filled with a loose mass of
irregularly formed cells or granules, mixed with stellated filaments o r spicuke (Tab. IV., Fig. 13). A careful inspection o f a section made vertically
through the se bodies and th e torus and calyx-tube and germen will show, between th e stigma and the calyx-tube, th a t a mass o f the same spongy-like
cellular m a tte r is continued to th e substance o f th e ovary (surrounding th e cells), which is also o f th e same texture, b u t less coloured. W hen th e flower
is p a s t its best, the se b odies may easily b e sepa ra ted from th e torus, leaving, however, a distinct scar, also visible in th e sta te o f th e fruit (see Tab. IV.,
Figg. 1 7 ,1 8 ), an d covered w ith th e loose pu lp y g ranular substance o f th e interior.
In my early description o f Victoria in the. Botanical Magazine, I was erroneously led (o n an examination o f de ad specimens) to suppose th a t these
bodies were th e s tigm a s: an d more th an one eminent b otanist h ave considered Nympluea as affording something analogous in th e incurved points o f its
stigmas; b u t those are in .re a lity a p rolongation o f the stigmatic r a y s ; he re th e texture is o f a wholly different n ature from th a t o f th e stigma.
T h e very concave centre o f th e stigma (Tab. IV ., Figg. 9 ,1 5 ) is occupied b y a pyramidical or conoid fleshy column, analogous to what is seen,
though on a smaller scale, in th e centre o f th e stigma o f Nympluea alba; a vertical section o f this and o f th e adjacent base o f th e stigma, when viewed
un d e r th e microscope, exhibits only v ery compact cellular structure, th e latter having, in addition, several minute brown opaque bodies (Tab. IV., Fig. 14)
remote from th e surface.
laid open by 1 section through the centre vertically, ell the stamens and the curious bodies or appendages surrounding the stigma will be seen to be of a beautifol rose-colour; the rest cream-white.