Victoria regia is, of course, the most widely known species of the genus with flower and leaf of the classic form we have just discussed. A native of the tropics, V. regia does poorly north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
V. Cruziana-Somewhat hardier South American form from Paraguay. It requires a little less heat than V. regia and therefore can be planted somewhat farther north. Flowers are similar but appear earlier, and the foliage is lighter green.

V. Randii-Brazilian form of similar size and shape, has foliage of a reddish cast and marked by prominent red veins. White flowers pass to a deep crimson in their two or three nights of blooming.

The lotus is one of the oldest flowering plants in the world and has been admired-even revered-through the ages for its awe-inspiring beauty. The lotus has been featured in man's first crude drawings, and the Egyptians, it is said, made it the "parent of ornamentation." Certainly the lotus was a basic motif in early Assyrian and Persian art.

A native of India, the lotus was sacred to the ancient Hindus, the bloom representing their country, the leaves, the surrounding countries and cultures. To the Buddhists, it symbolized the most exalted representation of man-his head held high, pure and undefiled in the sun, his feet rooted in the world of experience.

In other times, to other peoples, the magnificent blooms of the lotus, fed by roots buried in the mud, have symbolized a king with a common touch, beauty coming from filth and squalor, hope arising from chaos.

In very early civilizations, the flower was the emblem of female beauty and fertility-a symbol of life itself.