nelumbiaceæ

pl. [Mod. Latin nelum bi (um); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -aceœ.] Bot.: Water-beans; an order of Hypogynous Exogens, alliance Nympha les. It consists of water plants, with peltate, fleshy, floating leaves, four or five sepals, numerous petals, in many rows, arising from outside the base of the torus; stamens numerous, in several rows. First carpels and then nuts many, buried in the hollows of the enlarged torus; seeds solitary, rarely two in each nut. Only one known genus, species three or more. ně-lum-bi-ŭm, s. [NELUMBO.] Bot .: The typical and only genus of the order Nelumbiacose. The species are remarkable for the beauty of their flowers. Nelumbium speciosum has magnificent flowers, magenta or white. It is believed to be the Egyptian lotus and the Pythagorean Egyptian bean. It does not now grow in Egypt, but is found in India. The filaments are there deemed astringent and cooling; they are prescribed in burns, piles, and menorrhagia; the seeds are given to prevent vomiting, and to children as diuretics and refrigerants. The large leaves are made into bed sheets for fever patients; a sherbet made from the plant is given as a refrigerant in smallpox, . The rhizome, stalks, and seeds are eaten by the Hindus. A fiber derived from the stalk is used as a wick for lamps in Hindu temples, the plant being considered sacred. The North American Indians eat the rhizomes of N. luteum .