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WATERHOUSE, JOHN WILLIAM (1847- )

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 371 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WATERHOUSE, See also:JOHN See also:WILLIAM (1847- ) , See also:English painter, was the son of an artist, by whom he was mainly trained. As a figure-painter he shows in his See also:work much imaginative See also:power and a very See also:personal See also:style, and his pictures are for the most See also:part illustrations of classic myths treated with attractive fantasy. An able draughtsman and a See also:fine colourist, he must be ranked among the best artists of the See also:British' school. He was elected an See also:associate of the Royal See also:Academy in 1885 and academician in 1895. Four of his paintings, " Consulting the See also:Oracle," " St Eulalia," " The See also:Lady of Shalott " and " The Magic Circle," are in the See also:National See also:Gallery of British See also:Art. See " J. W. Waterhouse and his Work," by A. L. Baldry, Studio, vol. iv. See also:WATER-See also:LILY, a name somewhat vaguely given to almost any floating plant with conspicuous See also:flowers, but applying more especially to the See also:species of Nymphaea, Nuphar, and other members of the See also:order Nymphaeaceae. These are aquatic See also:plants with thick fleshy rootstocks or tubers embedded in the mud, and throwing up to the See also:surface circular See also:shield-like leaves, and leafless See also:flower-stalks, each terminated by a single flower, often of See also:great beauty, and consisting of four or five sepals, and numerous petals gradually passing into the very numerous stamens without any definite See also:line of dernarcation between them.

The ovary consists of numerous carpels See also:

united together and See also:free, or more or less embedded in the See also:top of the flower-stalk. The ovary has many cavities with a large number of ovules attached to its walls, and is surmounted by a See also:flat stigma of many radiating rows as in a See also:poppy. The See also:fruit is See also:berry-like, and the seeds are remarkable for having their embryo surrounded by an endosperm.. as well as by a perisperm. The anatomical construction of these plants presents many peculiarities which have given rise to discussion as to the allocation of the order among the See also:dicotyledons or among the monocotyledons, the See also:general See also:balance of See also:opinion being in favour of the former view. The See also:leaf-stalks and flower-stalks are traversed by See also:longitudinal See also:air-passages, whose disposition varies in different species. The species of Nymphaea are found in every See also:quarter of the globe. Their flowers range from See also:white to See also:rose-coloured, yellow and See also:blue. Some expand in the evening only, others See also:close soon after See also:noon. Nymphaea See also:alba (See also:Castalia alba) is See also:common in some parts of See also:Britain, as is also the yellow Nuphar luteum (Nymphaea lutea). The seeds and the rhizomes contain an abundance of See also:starch, which renders them serviceable in some places for See also:food. Of See also:recent years great strides have been made in the culture of new varieties of water-lilies in the open air. Many beautiful Nymphaea hybrids have been raised between the See also:tender and See also:hardy varieties of different See also:colours, and there are now in See also:commerce lovely forms having not only white, but also yellow, rose, See also:pink and See also:carmine flowers. fn many gardens open-air tanks have been fitted up with hot-water pipes See also:running through them to keep the water sufficiently warns in severe See also:weather.

The open-air water-lily tank in the Royal gardens, See also:

Kew, is one of the latest and most up-to-date in construction. These coloured hybrids were originated by M. Latour Marliac, of See also:Temple-sur-See also:Lot, See also:France, some of the most favoured varieties being See also:carnea, chromatella, fiammea, ignea, rosea, Robinsoni, See also:Aurora, blanda, &c. Amongst hardy species of Nymphaea now much grown are candida, nitida, odorata, pygmaea and tuberosa, all with white, more or less sweet-scented flowers; flaws, yellow, and sphaerocarpa, rose-carmine. Amongst the tender or hothouse Nymphaeas the following are most noted: blanda, white; devoniensis, See also:scarlet (a hybrid between N. See also:Lotus and N. rubra); edulis, white; elegans, yellowish white and See also:purple; gigantea, blue; kewensis, rose-carmine (a hybrid between N. devoniensis and N. Lotus); Lotus, red, white; pubescens, white; scutifolia, See also:bright blue; stellate, blue, with several varieties; and Sturtevanti, a See also:pale-rose hybrid. Under the general See also:head of water-lily are included the lotus of See also:Egypt, Nymphaea Lotus, and the sacred lotus of See also:India and See also:China, Nelumbium speciosum, formerly a native of the See also:Nile, as shown by See also:Egyptian sculptures and other See also:evidence, but no longer found in that See also:river. The gigantic See also:Victoria regia, with leaves 6 to 7 ft. in See also:diameter and flowers 8 to 16 in. across, also belongs to this See also:group. It grows in the backwaters of the See also:Amazon, often covering the surface for See also:miles; the seeds are eaten under the name water See also:maize.

End of Article: WATERHOUSE, JOHN WILLIAM (1847- )

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