ALISMACEJE, (WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY.) 449 
reticulated sheathing leaves, which are often without a blade. Flowers white, 
commonly 3 in a whorl from the axils of persistent bracts. 
| * Filaments long and slender. 
1. S. faleata, Pursh. Tall; leaves erect, rigid, broadly lanceolate, acute 
at each end, pinnately nerved, on long and stout petioles ; scape longer than the 
leaves, often branching above; pedicels of the sterile flowers slender, longer than 
those of the fertile ones; bracts and sepals ovate, obtuse, granular-roughened ; 
stamens numerous, with hairy filaments ; achenia obliquely obovate, wing-keeled, 
strongly beaked. (S. lancifolia, Michx.) — Lakes and rivers, Florida to South 
Carolina, and westward. June-Sept.—Scape 2°-5° high. Leaves 1°- 2° 
long. Flowers 1'-13/ wide. 
9. S. variabilis, Engelm. Leaves mostly sagittate, acute or obtuse, vary- 
ing from linear to broadly ovate, smooth, or rarely,like the scape, bracts, and 
sepals, pubescent; bracts acute; flowers mostly large; pedicels of the sterile 
flowers twice as long as those of the fertile ones; achenia obovate, beaked; fila- 
ments smooth. (S. sagittifolia, hastata, pubescens, &c. of authors.) — Marshes, 
ditches, &c., Florida, and northward. July - Sept. — Scape 19-39 high, an- 
gled. Leaves 2! - 12' long. 
* * Filaments short, thickened at the base. 
3. S. heterophylla, Pursh. Scape weak; leaves linear or lanceolate, and 
acute at each end, or elliptical, and obtuse or sagittate at the base ; bracts obtuse ; 
sterile flowers on long and slender pedicels ; the fertile ones nearly sessile ; achenia 
narrowly obovate, long-beaked. — Margins of ponds and streams, Florida, and 
northward.— Leaves 2'—-4' long. Scape few-flowered, the lowest whorl only 
bearing fertile flowers. 
4. S. simplex, Pursh. Scape slender, commonly prostrate in fruit, simple 
or branched ; leaves linear or lanceolate, acute at each end, 3-nerved, erect, the 
earliest mostly destitute of a blade; bracts membranaceous ; flowers small, all 
on long filiform pedicels; stamens 10—12, hairy at the base; achenia obovate, 
wing-keeled, beakless. (S. graminea, Michz.) — Shallow ponds in the pine bar- 
rens, Florida, and northward. May - Oct. = eae 10! - 15! high, usually longer 
than the leaves. 
5. S. natans, Michx. Small; leaves floating, ovate-oblong or elliptical, 
obtuse at each end or the lowest slightly cordate, 5 — 7-nerved, about as long as 
he few-flowered scape; bracts membranaceous, acute; pedicels of the fertile 
flowers stouter than those of the sterile ones, recurved in fruit; stamens 7 or 8; 
achenia obovate, 3-ribbed on the back, short-beaked. — Shallow ponds and 
streams, Florida to South Carolina. June - Sept.— Scapes 3'-6'/ long. Leaves 
1’~2! long. 
Var. lorata. Leaves strap-shaped, obtuse, without a blade, nerveless ; scapes 
floating or erect; flowers sometimes dioecious; achenia conspicuously beaked, 
 pimpled. — Brackish water, along the west coast of Florida. May -Sept.— 
When growing in deep water the floating scapes are 2°-3° long; when on 
| muddy banks, only 3' — 5! high, and the short leaves bear mach s 
ee In this state it is probably 8. poi i : 
. 
