OND-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.