Ta 
- Alismaceae, Water Plantain Family. 
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nm Aquatic or marsh herbs with broad somewhat fleshy basal leaves and erect 
eo, flowering scapes. Flowers regular ,perfect or monoecious, arranged in whoris 
~ ‘of 5S or more, the whorls racemose or panicled. Sepals 3, persistent. 
Pr Petals 3, deciduous. Stamens 6 or more. Pistils numerous, small, borne on 
a & flat or subconical receptacle, forming as many achenes at maturity. ( 
O Leaves oval, with parallel ribs; flowers in panicles J. ALisma 
O Leaves sagittate; flowers in racemes 2. Sagittaria 
| Alisma L. Water Plantain. 
Perennial mrsh herbs with £i erect or floating basal 
leaves, the blades strongly ribbed. Flowers numerous, in pyramidal panicles. 
Stamens 6-9. Pistils arranged in a whorl or ring on a flat receptacle. 
le A. plantago-aquatica L. > Plants erect, glabrous, with small 
x ) bulbous rootstocks and fibrous roots; leaves basal, the blades oval or 
broadly elliptical, 8-15 cm. long, shortly acuminate at the apex, rounded 
or subcordate at the base, entire, ribbed with 5-7 parallel longitudinal 
veins, these joined by numerous parallel obliquely transverse veinlets, 
petioles stout, 15-25 cm. long; flowering scapes, 40-80 cm. tall, the 
flowers-numerous—in-pyramideD panicles half as long, the branches and pedicels 
very slender, unequal, whorled; sepals suborbicular, 2.5-3 mm. long; petals 
White or pinkish, 3.5-4 mm. long, yellowish at the base; fruiting 
Clusters 5=6 mm. broad, the achenes 2.3-2.7 mn, long, flattened, ridged on i 
the margins, with a median vein on the backs. 
ae 
Abundant locally in open marshes or along slow streams. 
on 
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