78 j\X,ISMACEAE 



of the basal leaves less compressed and wingless. — One species. (A. R. Delile, 

 French botanist, 1778—1850, author of a Flora of Egypt.) 



1. L. subulata II. & B. Leaves 6 to 8 inches long, 1 to 2 lines in diameter, 

 tapering to a point ; spikes dense, 1/2 inch long or less ; basal pistillate flowers 

 often with a style 1 to 3 inches long, their fruits larger than those of the spike, 

 2y2 to 3 lines long. 



In water or nuid of shallow vernal pools in the valle3's or footliills : British 

 Columbia to middle California (where it is common), south to soutliern Cali- 

 fornia and Mexico. South America. 



Refs.— LiLAEA SUBULATA H. & B. PI. Aequin. 1: 222, t. 63 (1808); Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 193 

 (1880) ; Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflzfara. 2': 225, fig. 172 (1889) ; Morong, Mem. Torr. Club, 3': 

 10, pi. 24 (1893); Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 104 (1901). 



ALISMACEAE. Water Plantain Family. 



]\Iarsh or aquatic herbs with basal leaves, seape-Iike flower stems and perfect 

 or unisexual flowers. Perianth of 3 outer herbaceous persistent sepals and 

 3 inner white delicate deciduous petals. Stamens 6 to manj' or numerous. 

 Ovaries numerous, distinct, 1-celled, 1-ovuled, becoming aehenes in fruit. 

 Endosperm none; end^ryo strongly recurved or folded. — Ten genera, temper- 

 ate and tropic zones. 



Bibliog.— Buchenau, Alisiiiataceae (Eugler, Ptizr. tcil 4, abt. 15,-1903). Smith, J. G., 

 Revision of the North American Species of Sagittaria and Lopliotoearpus (Eep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 

 vol. 6, pp. 27-64, pis. 1-29, — 1895) ; Revision of the Species of Lophotocarpus of the U. S. 

 (1. e. vol. 11, pp. 145-151, pis. 53-58,-1899). 

 Aehenes verticiUate in a single whorl ; stamens 6. 



Petals entire; style lateral; aehenes minutely beaked 1. Alisma. 



Petals incised; style apical; aehenes long-beaked 2. Damasonium. 



Aehenes numerous, crowded on a globose or elevated receptacle; stamens 9 to many. 



Leaves entire; aehenes tnrgid; flowers all perfect 3. Echinodorus. 



Leaves typically sagittate ; aehenes strongly flattened ; flowers not all perfect. 



Flowers polygamous, the lower perfect, the upper staminate 4. Lophotocakpus. 



Flowers unisexual, the lower pistillate, the upper staminate 5. Sagittahia. 



1. ALISMA L 



Erect perennial herbs of shallow water or uiud. Inflorescence a panicle of 

 whorled branches each bearing a simple or compound umbel of perfect flowers. 

 Petals small, scarcely exceeding the sepals. Stamens 6, with short filaments. 

 Ovaries distinct, on a disk-like receptacle. Aehenes numerous, channeled on 

 the back, crowded in a whorl. — One polymorphic species, with several strongly 

 marked subspecies. (Alisma, the Greek name.) 



1. A. plantago L. Water Plantain. Plants 2 to 4 (or 6) feet high; root- 

 stock becoming almost bidbous by the sheathing leases of the petioles; leaf- 

 blades ovate to oblong, al)ruptly acute, the larger often subcordate at base, 

 2 to 6 (or 9 ) inches long, usually on long petioles; whorled branches of flower- 

 ing steins unequal in length, forming a loose pyramidal panicle; pedicels 1 

 inch long or less; petals white, 1 line long; aehenes very strongly flattened, 

 oblong, 1 line long. 



Common along the margins of ponds, rivers, and marshy shores of lakes: 

 Coast Ranges; Great Valley; Sierra Nevada to 5000 feet. Widely distributed, 

 as a polymorphic species, through the north temperate zone and in north 

 Africa and Australia. 



Refs.— Alisma plantago L. Sp. PI. 342 (1753); Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 200 (1880); Jepson, 

 Fl. AV. Mid. Cal. 104 (1901). A. brevipes Greene, Pitt. 4: 158 (1900) ; commonly larger, flower 

 parts larger; petals 2 to 3 lines long, much longer than the sepals. — Type loc. Colorado, credited 

 to California in N. Am. Fl. 17': 44. 



