Victorias and Lotus Flowers
First Cousins Of The Water Lilies
Other genera of Nymphaeaceae might be considered as first cousins of the Hardy and Tropical water lilies. Like cousins, these various showy flowering plants bear the same family name and have a certain family resemblance. Unlike cousins, they do not spring from a common ancestor but are grouped under one family name merely because they have developed along the same lines and have in common various structural characteristics and habits. First cousins of water lilies provide an interesting contrast to water lilies while maintaining the garden's theme.
The Victorias
One of most striking flowers of this generus is the Victoria. Gardeners for estates and public parks plant Victorias for it is the most spectacular of all the aquatics. If you live near a park or garden in which Victorias are growing you will find the sight of it well worth the effort of a Saturday or Sunday excursion.
The foliage is striking with leaves often measuring six feet or more across with edges turning up to form a straight-sided rim. Leaves are rich green above and appear to be quilted in a geometric pattern. Underneath they are purplish-green and heavily marked with thick, barbed veins radiating from the center. The compartments formed by the network of veins are filled with a gas generated by the leaf cells. It is this gas trapped in the leaf that makes it so buoyant.
The platter-shaped flower is also enormous, 10 or 12 inches in diameter, with a very strong fragrance of crushed pineapple. It is night blooming and usually opens for three consecutive evenings. It starts creamy white, passing to light pink, deeper pink, and finally to purplish-red. The seed pod, which is as large as a grapefruit and covered with sharp spines, contains a cluster of hard, shiny, black seeds.
Although it is perennial, the Victoria has to be treated as an annual and must be given more of practically everything required of other aquatics: sun, space, heat, time, patience and care. Seeds are gathered in fall and stored in bottles of water to keep them from drying out and dying. The hard shells are punctured by filing or cutting and then planted in January or February, in shallow pans of fine, unfertilized soil with three to four inches of water. At this stage they are kept at 80 to 85 degrees and exposed to full sunlight.
The Lotus
Although one could continue at length on the majesty of the Victoria, there are many other species that are worthy relatives of the water lily. One should also consider the Lotus. The Lotus is one of the oldest flowering plants in the world and has been admired -- even revered -- through the ages for its awe-inspiring beauty. The Lotus has been featured in man's first crude drawings, and the Egyptians, it is said, made it the "parent of ornamentation." Certainly the Lotus was a basic motif in early Assyrian and Persian art.
A native of India, the Lotus was sacred to the ancient Hindus. The floral blooms represented their country, the leaves, the surrounding countries and cultures. To the Buddhists, it symbolized the most exalted representation of man -- his head held high, pure and undefiled in the sun, his feet rooted in the world of experience.
In other times, to other peoples, the magnificent blooms of the Lotus, fed by roots buried in the mud, have symbolized a king with a common touch, beauty coming from filth and squalor, hope arising from chaos. In very early civilizations, the flower was the emblem of female beauty and fertility -- a symbol of life itself.
The different Lotus species and varieties grow from two-three feet to eight-nine feet high. The leaves, usually bluish-green, are round, often two and a half feet across, gently frilled at the edge. They are shaped like shallow bowls and without the customary notch at the junction of stem and leaf. Stout stems support the leaves from a central point and usually in a flat position, particularly in uncrowded areas, and the leaves hold rain water for hours after a shower. A leaf and stem look rather like a parasol and are often so used by our young visitors.
In many Lotus species and varieties, leaf surfaces are covered with thin layers of wax, which causes drops of dew and rain to sparkle in the sun and roll around on the leaves like quicksilver -- a beautiful sight. In some forms, leaves are covered with a fine, floury nap, which is also waterproof. Dew and rain water spell magic on these gorgeous florals.