Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-22


The aquatic plant house, given to the city
of Allegheny by Henry Phipps, Jr., is
almost finished. 1t is pretty structure of
iron and glass. The tanks have been COM
pleted, and the concrete on the walks will
be put down next week. Superintendent
Hamilton expects to have everything done
in two weeks.
The aquatic plants, the most of which
will be procured from two dealers In the
East, have been ordered for March 10. At
that time they will arrive and be at once
placed in position in the various tanks.
Yesterday Superintendent Hamilton re-
ceived two packages of seeds of rare water
plants, sent to him from Egypt by Mr..
PhipDs, Jr. The large tank in the central
building will be occupied by Victoria
regia, or royal water lily. Superintendent
Hamilton said OF this magnificent specimen
of the vegetable kingdom:
WONDERFUL PLANT.
"The leaves OF the Victoria regia attain a
diameter of six feet. They are circular,
with raised rim, like the rim OF shallow
tin pan. The largest flowers are % inches
across. They are white, with q yellow
e.
The stems and leaves stretch out 20 feet
from the plant. A board has been placed
on one OF the floating leaves, and child
years of age has been sustained upon the
board"
The house will be adorned by several
specimens the Egyptian lotus, Nelumbium
speciosum. OF this historic and gorgeous
aquatic flower, Superintendent Hamilton
said:
SIT is the sacred flower Of Egypt, China,
Japan and India. Until lately it was sup
posed to be tropical plant, but within
few years it has been found to be perfectly
hardy. At BordentowD, N. j., have seen
it growing where the ice would form a foot
thick over the plants. 1 do not think that
specimen of this plant has ever bloomed
in these cities.
WHY LOTUS EATERS.
"The seeds, when eaten or dried, were
called by the old Greek and Latin writers
Egyptian beans, because they were con-
sumed in such vast quantities in the Nile
Valley. According to the Father of His
tory, the seeds had a sweet and agreeable
taste. Herodotus compares the seeds of ithe
nympheas to those OF the poppy. They, too,
were eaten, being pounded in a mortar and
made into a kind of bread. From that ro-
mantle writers and poets received their idea
for the lotus eaters Tennyson has written
a strange poem with that title.
"In Assyrian and Persian sculpture the
lotus is very conspicuous, alternating with
the pine cone as an accompaniment of the
most solemn rites. In India, again, we find
the same thing. Constantly the lotus occurs,
and its sacred character is always apparent.
legends say that Brahma came forth
from its blossom. Sri and other gods are
sculptured sitting upon an open flower,
holding buds in their hands. Perhaps it
was the spread of Buddhism which carried
the lotus to China aud Japan, where to-day
it is the sacred flower.
A BEAUTIFUL SPECIMEN.
1.-THE flower is magnificent, from eight to
twelve inches across. The petals are white
at their base, and in the center and at the tip a
brilliant crimson. The large cluster of pis-
tils and stamens are bright yellow"
The house will contain not less than 100
species of water plants, and there will be at
least 30 varieties of water lilies. Water
plants, as a rule, have splendid flowers.
The crimson, lilac and blue water hyacinths
Will be among the most gorgeous of the |
flowers.
In addition to the Victoria regia plant
which Superintendent Hamilton will re-
ceive from the East, he has already received |
from Para, Brazil, q number of seeds of that |
species. They were enclosed in a glass bottle |
filed with water, which was packed in cot |
ton. The living plant, to come in about two |
weeks, will be packed while en- route in /
damp clay.