The times., 1897-09-12
THE VICTORIA REGIA.

three city PONDS in Prospect Park 1t is
Yic-oria Regia or royal water lilv in bloom
III the oren air. The plant frequently
blooms ia h0rhouses In this climate, bur
very seldom IN the open air. This one that
has Dur itself or show in Prospect Park is
a beautiful specimen of the plant The
houiCulturist over in the park has been
experimenting with the lily for severHi
cars He has succeeded only in raising
leaves, and I:ot very good leaves, either,
until this year. A couple of DAYS ago he
Noticed little bulb peepiHg out Of the
water immediately over the thick root
stalk. The lily was about to bloom. II
grew severa. inches out of the water on
Mondar and Monday night at dusk the
fl.'ver began TO open. Asthe evening wore
on Il opened wider and wider 1t was pure
white. fully a foot in diameter, and
beautiful in The extreme. 1t STAYED open
Gltil the sun began rising yes terday morn
ings; then it closed, TO open again In the
evening, irs color changing from white
to a delicate shade Of pink.
1t Gidn't get around last night that the
lily was blooming, hence the spectators
Of the show were few and most of them
Were park officials. \ Sun reporter was
the rase garden. which is five-minute
walk from the entrance of the park at
the plaza. The Victoria Regfa is in the
middle pond of the three. and il is crowd
ing everything else in The POND except
the bullfrogs. The plant itself is a pro
-dIgipus one. The root stalk is in the cen
ter of the pond nd is more than a foot
thick. Out from this shoot stems ten OF
twelve feet long and an inch thick, and
on the end Of each stem is a leaf. In the
water the stems look Ike manila ropes
used 10 ancnor the high lea yes to the
root stalk. There Were eleven leaves on
the plant last night, eight OF them being
between five and six feet across. One
leaf had been taken off during the day
because it had begun TO wither, and there
as just one out OF water scarcely bigger
tnan the flower. The eight biggest lea YES.
Mr. Thom.son, whose special pet the lily
is, said, were more than a week old. They
were circular and turned up on the edge
all the way around about three inches,
so that they looked like floating ira Us.
The upper side was green and showed a
network OF depressed veins, between which
Tia. surfaces were swollen, giving the an
pearanCe of alligator skin. The outside OF
the rim anc the undeTside of the leaf
Were rose cCloI. This side was fun of stiff
little Jhorns, fierce looking enough to warn
persons not 10 touch the leaf. Each leaf
had surface of about twenty eight square
feet, ana was capable of holding up more
than sixty pounds dead eight Per.
haps some Of them would hold twice that
weight. Mr.. Thompson pointed out the
smallest Of the leaves that had developed
il was about -four feet across.
That grew in two days, he said 1T
was no bigger than my fist two days ago.
whcn first saw it
Altogether these tigIeavesoc soccuniednearlv
four fuudred square feet + the surface Of
the pond, and in the center OF the lot, sur
rounded by open water, was the pink
flower. Though it was a foot in diameter,
IL boxed mighty small in the field Of float
ing trays. 1t was fully open at q little
after o'clock. Half a dozen oil lamps.
fitted With reflecters, showed it off to
advantage, and tie lovers Of flowers in the
party Went into eestecies ever its beauties
In shape it was much like the other lilies
in the pond, but 1T was bigger, ana the color
and the shading the leaves showed made il
much more beautiful than any of Them
1t VIII close up again at SUNRISE Mir
Thompson said ''and tomorrow night it
viii make its last appearance. The color
viii change again, and it will be deeper
RED. At sunrise Thursday it VIII close for
the last time. The ste III will bend, and the
flower viii dip into the water, where IL
viii stay until the seedit contains nj atures'
Reside this flower last night there was
little bud MI. Thompson said that that
would probably develop today 50 thac 1t
would be ready TO open tonight. TheIeafto
that which was Just above water and looked
like bunch OF green fuzz, would develop so
that tonight it may be two feet across. Mr
Thompson said that the lily would nroh.
ably continue 10 bloom for mouth. Hewfll
ask the park commissioners to have the pond
lighted by electric lights so that everybody
can see the flower to advantage.
The Victoria Regia comes from tn q region
Of the Amazon River. In this country tits
an annual plaati that is it dies W hen the
cold yea ther comes, and must be repIantel
the next year. 1t Was discovered by an
Englishman, and the first flower that bios
someiin cultivation was present ed to Queen
Victoria. The plant was named after her.
AS the seeds in the dead flower o f the plant
III tie PARK mature they viii be taken and
packed away In mud so that they win be
kept moist and ready for planting nextyear.
be plant requires warm water to grow
in. The ga ter in the lily pond where this
one Is growing is heated by team.-New
York Sun.