Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Nymphaea \Nym*ph[ae]"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.

   Note: Recent critics have endeavored to show that this genus
         should be called {Castalia}, and the name {Nymph[ae]a}
         transferred to what is now known as {Nuphar}.