ELODEACEAE 27 
the water is clear. Their habit is somewhat suggestive of marine algae of 
the genus Caulerpa; often found washed ashore after storms. 
Leaves 1 or 2 at the tip of the branches; blades evidently 
serrulate, on filiform petioles: capsule short- e 1. H. Baillonis. 
ciliolate and obscurely serrulate, sessile or with stout 
pere e-like bases: capsule long-beaked. 2. H. Engelmannii. 
1. H. Baillonis Aschers. Plant with a thread-like rootstock, the branches 
short, usually very short or obsolete: leaves eee blades oblong, linear- 
o long, or spatulate, mostly 1-2.5 mm. long, 7 
thin, often minute ex D especially ( 
w : oun indi 
with indis- 
tine obse scure, ndr -petioled: capsule 
ellipsoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, 3-3.5 mm. long. 
—Sandy or marly bottoms on Reef about 
the Florida Keys: 
. Engelmannii Aschers. Plant with a 
ae like rootstock; the branches stare 
ate, 1—3 em. lon 
thick, ' gla abr rous, sharply serrulate, evidently 
\ H 
and creeks, coast of Fla. and open waters of the Fla. Reef. 
VALLISNERIA [Mich.] L. Fresh-water herbs. Leaves basal with — 
T elongate ribbon-like blades. Flowers dioecious, the staminate numerous, 
crowded on a spadix; they break away from their short stalks and float on the 
surface of the water where they shed their To about the pistillate flowers 
which have been raised to the surface by the rapid growth of the pedicels. 
Pistillate flowers few, each solitary at the end of an S spiral scape. 
Fruit subtended by the spathe.—Two species, both represented in our range, 
the first one also in the Old World.—EEL-GRASSES. TAPE-GRASSES. WATER- 
CELERIES.—Plants with their long leaves and pistillate flowers usually partly 
floating 
Stigmas cleft for less than half their length: sepals of the pistillate POR 2-8 
stigmas ci cleft nearly to the base: sepals of the pistillate flowers ov adi 
. long. 2. V. americana. 
1. d spiralis L. Leaf-blades thin, 3-8 mm. wide, usually dentieulate, espe- 
pecially near the apex: peduncles of "the pistillate flowers = 6 dm. long, spirally 
twisted at maturity: Im ps A 
1-1.5 em. long: vis nthium 1-2 . long 
in anthesis: petal a UR capsu ie slen- 
der.—Still and pere $c. various prov- 
inces, N. C. to Ind., S. Dak, and 
(0. W.)—Sum.-fall.—A wide-spread species, 
occurring in both the Old World and the 
New, but k entering our range from 
the No rth 
= V. red ct "ea blades thick- 
ofte 
ae of. the vistillate pues 5-10 : 
or more, curved at maturity, but 
