142 



are ouly a few fouud of the dark greeu firm form), wliile the reverse is 

 true of the buh'nshes in the lake. 



THE FLORA OF THE LAKE I'ROPER now comes up for considera- 

 tion. In the beginning it may be well to state that many of the plants 

 growing in the neighborhood of the shore exhibit decided variations in 

 general appearance. They have two extreme forms, one found growing in 

 shallow water and the other in deep wa.ter. Among such plants may be 

 mentioned the following: 



(1) t^<-iri)vs hicustris (light green. ;ipi)arently glaucesceut — easily 

 crushed— form already noted) grows in rich muck in shallow water. This 

 appears to continue in blossom longer than the other, and but one patch 

 is found in tlie lake proper, though it is abimdant in the ponds. The 

 dark-green, rtrm furni, growing in tlie marl and in deeper watei", generally 

 has the umbel more t-ontractod. At a few places these forms seem to 

 intergrade, althouuli tliere is no gradual shading-oCf at the place in the lake 

 where they groAv side by side. 



(2) Ninnpliaca (idremi, or spatterdock, exhibits a variation in habit 

 really vei-y slij^lit l»ut quite conspicuous, and readily noticed by the most 

 superljcial observer. In rich soil and shallow water it is stout and erect, 

 the large petioles liolding the leaves high out of the watea*. In deep water 

 all, or nearly all. the leaves float, and the petioles are lax. 



(3) White water lily— tlie same general change, only more marked. 

 The shallow watei- form has stout petioles, liolding the leaves far above 

 the surface of tlic water and at an angle, and the leaves show a radical 

 ribbing or faint fluting, not coincident with the veins, but in direction 

 like that of a palm-leaf fan— deep water form, with slender, weak, ©ften 

 coiled petioles and leaves floating on the surface of the water. On s;indy 

 bottom the plant is imich sin.-illcr in leal' and flower, giving the form 

 (Var. minor Simms). 



(4( Water plantain. Ifaves exceedingly variable in shape, those under, 

 water resembling eelgrass; those floating are much like leaves of some of 

 the I'otam(i(/eto)is. while the aerial leaves resemble the ordinai*y plantain. 



The following brief synopsis will suffice to give a general idea of the 

 centripetal se(iueiice of tlie various plants of the lalve. (1) On shore, out 

 • )f watci-: Scirinis (tiiicricanus, Sagittarias, Eleocharis acicularis and cat- 

 tails. Here. too. may be reckoned Pohiyonhnn ampMbium, with its roots 

 (HI shore and its prostrate stem floating. It strikingly resembles a. 

 r<)t<iiiiit(i(ti»i. rl\ On shore and extending away into the water; Scirpus 



