MARSH LAND AND OTHER AQUATIC PLANTS 



617 



ciTtain of its petals are developed from its stamens, 

 while others entertain the very opposite opinion. The 

 stem to the tlower is sometimes of very considerable 

 length and very red. while the round, semi-heart-shaped 

 leaves float flat upon the surface of the water, where 

 they expose their entire upper surfaces to the air — a 

 most necessary provision. See the little puddles of rain 

 that have formed upon them in Professor Collett's mag- 

 nihcent picture here reproduced in one of the cuts. 



Water lilies are fertilized by numerous aquatic in- 

 sects, as well as by bees and various species of beetles. 

 The stamens and anthers are of a golden color and ar- 

 ranged concentrically. In the winter these lilies sink 

 to the bottom of the jdaces where they grow, and hide 

 in the mud tmtil the return of warm weather ; it was 

 from this fact that they gained the name of Water 

 Nymph. During chilly evenings, it is said, they will 

 also disappear under the surface of the water, and not 

 rea[)pear until the morning sun once more warms up the 

 cool air. If you look sharp, you will sometimes meet 

 with specimens in which the waxy, white i)etals are 

 tinted i)ink ; the plant may also present other anomalies 

 in its makeup. 



One of the most conspicuous plants that we have 



a m o n g the 

 ones growing 

 in great abun- 

 dance along 

 the m u d d y 

 shores of slow- 

 running riv- 

 ers, such as 

 the Potomac 

 below W'ash- 

 ington, is the 

 g i a n t - 1 i k e 



AN ELEC.ANT GROUP OF riTCHER PLANT FLOWERS 

 This gives a perfect flower, front view, and next in heiglit to tlie tallest 

 specimen, which is commencing to go to seed. It will he noted that the 

 form of the granulated capsule varies considerahly. The seed jiod is well 

 shown in a specimen on the left, and the appearance of the hack of the 

 flower is seen in the center of tlie illustration. Some call this the Side- 

 saddle flower, hut for what reason is hard to say. Others have ajiplied 

 the name of Huntsman's (."up to it, though no well-informed huntsman ever 

 drank nut of one of them; as a rule, tiuntsmen do not relish stagnant water, 

 full of dead insects, nor drink out of a half-washed cup that once con- 

 tained such a mixture. 



ONE OF THE MOST DECORATIVE OF ALL 

 WATER PLANTS 



The Cat-tail Flags helong in the genus Typha of 

 the Bur-Reed family {Sparganiaccac) . There are 

 two species of them in our country, they heing 

 the Common Cat-tail here shown, which is found 

 throughout temperate Nr)rth America, and Typha 

 augustifolia, a narrow-leaved form, which is found 

 near the coast and not further South than North 

 Carolina, 



growth known as the Green Arrow-arum ; its leaves may be at least two and 

 a half feet in length, and the s|)athes — three of which are shown in the cut 

 — are over a foot long. They are of a dark, glossy green color, and yellow- 

 ish along the fluted margins of their slit-like openings. Upon studying one 

 of these, it is to be noted that it forms a sheath snugly enfolding the spadix 

 within. On this latter grow the inconspicuous florets, which are both pis- 

 tillate and staminate. Flies passing up and down over these efl^ect fertiliza- 

 tion. Later on the green berries appear, and soon after the stalk bearing 

 them curves over, to such an extent that its distal pointed end is forced into 

 the mud in which the plant grows. Here its decaying structure acts as a 

 fertilizer for the germinating seeds, and the species is thus perpetuated. 



Coming to the extremely curious and most remarkable pitcher ])lant, it 

 may be said that scant justice could be done it in the remaining paragraphs 

 of this article; and, as a matter of fact, it is intended to devote an entire 

 contrilnition to its history later on. For the present, the two illustrations 

 here presented nuist suffice until another day, when more reproductions of 

 photographs will be in order, with a full account of its unusual flowers: its 

 still more unique leaves ; its range and flowering season ; its haljitat and 

 allies, indeed, its entire history will be dwelt upon in detail and with all the 

 fulness that it most surely deserves. 



In many marshes, and in shallow ponds with soft, muddy bottoms, there 

 grows, throughout North America, the ])icturesque cat-tail, of which there 

 are two species in the United .States — that is, the Common Cat-tail ( Typltd 

 latifolio), and the Narrow-leaved Cat-tail {Typha aiistifolia). found only 



