660 CXLVI. HYDROCHARIDEE. (J. D. Hooker.) [Lagarosiphon. 
iii. 750; Wight in Hook. Bot. Misc. ii. 344, Suppl. t. 11; Ham. in Brewst. 
-Edinb. Journ. Sc. 1. (1824) 34. 
Commen in tanks throughout INDIA and CeyroN.—DisTRIB. Tropical Asin thes 
Stems filiform. Leaves 3-4 in., nerveless, acute, often twisted. a e Spa 
at length 2-valved ; flower on a short spadix ; anthers 2, dehiscence transverse. 
3. VALLISNERIA, Linn. 
A submerged tufted stemless stoloniferous diccious herb. Teaver ort 
long, linear. Male fl. very numerous, minute, in an ovoid 3-lobec ae | 
peduncled spathe; sepals 3; petals 0; stamens 1-3; anthers di Ying & 
pistillode 0. Fem. fl. solitary in a tubular 3-toothed spathe termins nr 
very long filiform spiral scape; perianth of the male; staminodes S ules 
ovary narrow, not produced upwards; stigmas 3, broad, notched; 
numerous. Fruit linear, included in the spathe, many-seeded. 
; . Hook. 
V. spiralis, Lina. Sp. Pl. 1015; Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. £00 ; pe 
Bot. Misc. ii. 87, Suppl. t. 23, 24; Benth. Fl. Austral. T "E Ai 
FI. Orient. v. 3; Wall. Cat. 5045. V. spiraloides, Roxb. FT. . 
750. 
i i arm 
Throughout INDIA and Crvrow.—DisTnIB. Westward to Spain, and in w 
regions of the Old and New Worlds. . th 
Very variable in size. Leaves long, 10 by 3 in., or shorter according to the kiam 
of water, green, translucent, entire or tips serrulate. Male spathes 4 bw ^'lioels 
off at the base, when the flowers emerge rise to and float on the sur ne Pot the 
long slender. Fem. spathe carried to the surface in flower by the uncoiling of, 
: iiber . . . :n to ripeD 
scape, which after fertilization again coils close and brings the ovary down to ripe 
under water. . 
4. BL'YXA, Thouars. 
TP ls; 
Submerged tufted, stemless, scapigerous, hermaph. or dicecious peni? te 
scapes long or short. Leaves linear, acute, entire or minutely 86 tals 3, 
Male fl. several in a tubular 2-toothed spathe; sepals 3, linear; De rect ; 
longer, linear; stamens 3-9, 1 or more arrested, anthers narrow ae a 
pistillodes 3, slender. Fem. fl. solitary, sessile in its spathe; Spa lender, 
perianth of the male; staminodes 0, or minute; ovary very. wil ve 
beaked; style very short; stigmas 3, filiform; ovules many. #7 i 
. E H wit 
slender included in the ventricose ribbed spathe, many -seeded ; seed 
a mucilaginous testa. 
jverse 
. . uch diver 
Under this genus the following Indian forms occur. These present à the other 
characters that it is difficult to suppose they do not represent spectes ; M are so UN- 
hand, water plants are so variable, and herbarium specimens of thet 
ad, t . e genus. 
satisfactory, that I must leave it to Indian botanists to work up the g 
refrain from citing extra-Indian authorities. 
e ü . 
* Leaves broad at the base, narrowed upwards to the acuminate "P 
. leaves 
l; B- Roxburghii, Rich. in Mem. Inst. Fr. 1811, 17, t $i ig; 
8-24 in., flowers dicecious, stamens 8, capsule 2-4 by jin. via octandr® 
seeds small xz in. tubercled with or without short tails. Vallisne 
Roxb. Cor. Pl. ii. 34, t. 165; Fl. Ind. iii. 752. till 
BENGAL, and the MALAY and DECCAN PENINSULAS, common in $ 
water— 
DistR1B, Trop. Asia, Australia. 
