Lagarosiphon. | CXXXI. HYDROCHARIDE& (WRIGHT). d 
Leaves in whorls of 3-5, 10 lin. long, scarcely 1 lin. wide at the base, 
slightly tapering to the rounded apex, teeth about 100, close-set. Male 
flowers unknown. Female spathes 24 lin. long, 4 lin. wide, bifid, minutely 
spinulose on the free margins, with one perfect and one rudimentary 
flower. Ovary 1-celled. Ovules 5, orthotropous, on long funicles. 
Nile Land. British East Africa: Kariandusi, 6100 ft., Gregory ! 
3. VALLISNERIA, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. iii. 451. 
Spathes dicecious. Male shortly pedicellate, many-flowered. Flowers 
escaping from spathe when mature. Perianth simple, 3-lobed. Stamens 
3; anthers with two globose lobes. Female spathe tubular, bifid. 
Perianth simple, 3-lobed. Staminodes 3. Ovary 1-celled with 3 pa- 
rietal placentas; stigmas 3, short, broad, 2-fid, ovules many.—Sub- 
merged herbs, with very short stem. Leaves crowded, grass-like, 
linear. Scapes axillary, the female spirally twisted but uncoiling to 
allow the flower to come to the surface of the water for pollination. 
A genus of about 4 species widely distributed through the warmer regions of both 
hemispheres, 
Leaves 4-16 in, long . ; : : ; S le Ve EE E 
Leaves less than 3 in. long . : : : ; : . 2. V. æthiopica. 
1. V. spiralis, Linn. Sp. Pl. 1015. A submerged, grass-like 
plant. Leaves linear, obtuse, 4-18 in. long, with a few transverse 
veinlets. Male scapes axillary, 1-2 in. long. Spathe ovate, com- 
pressed, 2-lobed. Male flowers numerous in the spathe, very shortly 
pedicellate. Perianth 3-lobed; lobes obtuse, reflexed. Stamens 3, 
divergent. Female scape very long, spirally coiled. Spathe tubular, 
nearly as long as the ovary, bifid. Perianth 3-lobed; lobes shortly 
triangular, obtuse. Staminodes 3. Stigmas 3, flat, hairy above. Ovary 
l-celled. Capsule 2—4 in. long.—Hook. Bot. Mise. iii. 87, tt. 23-24; 
Niger Flora, 528; Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 95. 
Upper Guinea, Lagos, Barter, 20163! 
ae we Land. White Nile, Schweinfurth, 1043! Gazelle River, Schweinfurth, 
5! 
Lower Guinea, Congo: Stanley Pool, Callenwaert ! 
Mozamb. Dist. Lake Nyasa, Laws, 2! 
Extends throngh the warm regions of both hemispheres. 
2. V. æthiopica, Fenzl in Flora, 1844, 311 (nomen) and in Sitzb. 
Akad. Wien, Math.-Nat. li. (1865) Abth. ii. 139. Leaves 2-2} in. long, 
lingulate, attenuate at the base, obtuse or rather acute, more or less 
denticulate, with obscure transverse veinlets. Female spathe cuneate, 
2-3 lin. long, with two obtuse lobes. Perianth longer than the spathe ; 
lobes ovate, very obtuse. Stigmas oval, acutely bidentate at the apex, 
—Schweinf. Ind. Pl. Nilot. 293; Baker in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxix. 151. 
Nile Land. Senaar, Kotschy, 284! White Nile near Gebel Nyemat, Schwein- 
Surth, 1017! Nile, 144° N., Speke and Grant. 
Perhaps only a dwarf state of V, spiralis, Linn. 
