Nymphaea.

Nymphaea alba Linn. Nymphaeaceae. Flatter-Dock. White Water Lily.

North temperate region. In France, the rootstocks, according to Masters, are used in the preparation of a kind of beer.

Nymphaea ampla DC.

North America and West Indies. The farinaceous rootstocks are eaten.

Nymphaea gigantea Hook. Australian Water Lily.

Australia. The porous seed-stalk is peeled and eaten either raw or roasted. The stalks containing brown or black seed are used while those with light-colored seeds are rejected. The large, rough tubers, growing in the mud with the floating leaves attached, are roasted and are not unlike potatoes, being yellow and dry when cooked.

Nymphaea lotus Linn. Egyptian Water Lily. Lotus.

Tropical Africa and eastern Asia. The rootstocks contain a sort of starch and are eaten by the poorer classes in India. The small seeds, called bheta, are fried in heated sand and make a light, easily digestible food. The roots are also eaten in Ceylon and the seeds are chewed by children. The tubers are much sought after by the natives as an article of food or as a medicine. The capsules and seeds are either pickled or put into curries or ground and mixed with flour to make cakes.

Nymphaea stellata Willd.

Asia and tropical Africa. This water lily is distinctly figured, says Pickering, in the cave temples at Adjunta and in Brahmanical cave temples. In the upper Nile region it is called macongee-congee, and the flowers and roots are eaten by the Wahiyon.

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.