1911] Collins,— Flora of Lower Cape Cod; third Note 21 
Nymphaea growing in places where the water had quite disappeared 
though the mud was still wet; here could be seen the decaying peti- 
oles of the normal leaves, the blades having quite disappeared; leaves 
in shape quite like those of the submerged rosettes, but thicker and 
greener, were borne on very short petioles, standing out almost 
horizontally, but not resting on the mud. I suspect that the sub- 
merged leaves are formed as the water becomes unusually shallow, 
and are utilized as aerial leaves by the plant when, by the disappear- 
ance of the water, the ordinary floating leaves are no longer available. 
The time at my disposal was too short for me to watch some particular 
plant or group of plants, and so get certainty in the matter. 
I have already noted at Brewster the occurrence of Desmodium as 
indicating an approach to more ordinary conditions; a day's collect- 
ing here showed several other species which have apparently reached 
their limit; Chimaphila umbellata, C. maculata and Silene latifolia, 
for instance. The most interesting station at Brewster was at the 
bay shore, where the ordinary upland vegetation stops as it meets the 
influence of salt water. Here is quite a broad zone of rank vegetation; 
one can wander through “forests” of Hibiscus Moscheutos about up 
to one’s head; every time I see this plant in flower it is a new delight, 
and I cannot think of anything in our most fertile regions that sur- 
passes a field of this in full bloom. Along with this were various over- 
grown grasses and sedges; Echinochloa Walteri, Scirpus validus, 
S. cyperinus and Spartina cynosuroides; the occurrence of this last 
constitutes an extension of range, as it had not before been reported 
north of Connecticut. I selected the smallest plant of this species 
I could find; to get it into press I had to cut it into four pieces, and it 
fully occupied four pressing sheets. This luxuriant marginal flora 
is found all along the inside of the Cape, but this Brewster station is 
at the same time fully representative and easily accessible; it is 
less than fifteen minutes walk from railroad station at East Brewster; 
after the scanty flora of the fields and roadsides, the botanist will 
find it a delightful surprise; if he visits it as I did in August or early 
September, he will hardly be able to resist the temptation to pick 
some of the Hibiscus for its beauty, but a very few plants of this, 
with specimens of the Spartina and Scirpus, will make quite a large 
armful, and he may be glad, as I was, to accept a “lift” from another 
collector who had been working in the neighborhood, and was driving 
to the R. R. station. His collection consisted of two barrels of clams, 
but his kindness in taking me and my collection was none the less wel- 
