Nym*phae"a (?), n. [L., the water lily, Gr. .] Bot.
A genus of aquatic plants having showy flowers (white, blue, pink, or yellow, often fragrant), including the white water lily and the Egyptia lotus.
⇒ Recent critics have endeavored to show that this genus should be called Castalia, and the name Nymphaea transferred to what is now known as Nuphar.
© Webster 1913.