A PUNT WITH A NAVY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1123, 17 December 1914, Page 4

A PUNT WITH A NAVY.

One plant of the tropical regions keeps not only its own standing army, but also its defensive navy. It is the now famous gigantic water lily, Victoria, Regia. The gigantic leaves of the Regia grow to proportions of five or six feet in diameter, and lie on the water like great circular rafts, with turnedun edges. These leaves themselves are or such choice colouring as to deserve the appellation of flowers. They axe of soft shades of light green above, and seem like pools of clear green water in tho midst of the browner surrounding waters. Und'erneaih they are in varying rich tints of red, a red that contrasts beautifully with the light green upper surface, and which forms a marked outer wall for tho rim. And truly the Regia is a navy, for each of its ponderous broad leaves forms a great "dreadnought," manned with an active fighting crew in tho shape of the numerous water birds, which find in the wide, deep-rimmed pads of the lily a safe and' dry footing. It is these birds which form the standing array of the queen lily; better, perhaps call them the aerial, standing . and swimming armies, for among, their numbers /ire birds of three kinds. It has been said tihat no less than a dozen tropical birds are accustomed to make use of the lily pads as their boats. The _ birds catch fish from their vantage point on the leaves; and they feed on the hundreds of aquatic insects and snails which swarm about the surface of the padte. As many of these insects would be harmful to the plant, were they allowed free rein, the Ileda is more than repaid for the supportrxhe gives to her standing army .—From The Human Side of Plants, by Royal I>ixon.