288 NYMPH^E^. 



short, hypogynous, crowded aroiind the base of the ovary; filaments 

 short; anthers truncate, opening toward the ovary by linear slits. Ovary 

 oblong or ovate, 12 — 20-celled; the sessile broad flat stigma with as many 

 radiating striae. Seeds without an aril. 



1. ]V. advena, Ait. Kew. ii. 226 (1789), and 2 ed. iii. 295 (1811), under 

 Nuphar. Rhizome several feet long, 2 in. thick, creeping, rooting from 

 beneath, the upper side marked with scars of former petioles: leaves 

 cordate, with narrow or closed sinus, % — 1 ft. long, % — M ft. wide, 

 floating or slightly raised above the water on the stout usually semiterete 

 petioles: sepals 6, the 3 outer less than 1 in. wide, nearly orbicular, 

 greenish, the 3 inner more than twice as large, narrowed at base, yellow: 

 petals about 1.5, small, concealecnaeueath the many stamens: ovary ovoid; 

 stigma sessile, % — % in. broad, 15-rayed: seeds oval, light brownish, 

 smooth and shining. — In deep sloughs about Stockton, Sanford; the 

 flowers often fully five inches in diameter. May, June. 



2. ]!r. polysepala, Greene, Bull. Torr. Club, xv. 84 (1888); Lawson, 

 Trans. Roy. Soc. Canad. iv. 120; Engelm. Trans. St. Louis Acad. ii. 282 

 (1865), under Nuphar. Near the preceding, but leaves of broader and 

 more rounded outline : sepals 9 — 12, all but the outer of a rich brownish 

 red: rays of stigma 15 — 21, the margin somewhat crenate. — In the typical 

 form, or near it, at Eureka, Humboldt Co., and in our northern moun- 

 tain lakes generally; but common toward the coast in the vicinity of 

 San Francisco, etc. with fewer and less highly colored sepals, thus 

 approaching N'. ad vena rather too closely. 



2. BRASENIA, Schreher (Water-Shield). Roots fibrous. Sub- 

 mersed stems, petioles, etc. coated with a colorless transparent jelly. 

 Leaves centrally peltate, floating. Flowers pedunculate, purplish. 

 Sepals 3 or 4. Petals 3 or 4. Stamens 18 36. Ovaries 6-18, becoming 

 oblong-ovate indehiscent and somewhat drupaceous 1-seeded fruits. 



1. B. peltata, Pursh, Fl. ii. 389 (1814); Thunb. "Acta. Ups. vii. 142. 

 t. 14," under Menyanthes; F. v. Muell. PI. vict. 15(1874), under Cahomha. 

 Hydropeltis purpurea, Michx. Fl. i. 324. t. 29 (1803). Stems of variable 

 length, 1 — 10 ft. : leaves of a dark purplish green, oval or elliptical, 2—5 

 in. long, glabrous and shining above, gelatinous beneath, on petioles 

 6 — 15 in. long: fl. brownish purple, scarcely 1 in. broad; petals much 

 like the sepals but a trifle longer and thinner: stamens dark purple: 

 carpels oblong, acuminate and tipped with the persistent style. — A 

 curious aquatic, widely dispersed in the northern hemisphere; occurring 

 also in Australia; not common on the Pacific slope of N. America, but 

 plentiful in deep sluggish waters about Stockton, Sanford, and also 

 detected in Clear Lake, Lake Co., Bolander, as well as in the northern 

 Sierra, Brewer. 



