ALISMACEAS. (WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY.) 459 
ovules solitary. Pod splitting when ripe into 3 - 6 carpels, which 
separate from a central axis. —Leaves rush-like, fleshy, sheathing 
the base of the wand-like naked and jointless scape. Flowers 
small, in a spiked raceme, bractless. (Name composed of rprir, 
three, and y\a x h, point, from the three points of the ripe fruit 
m No. l.) 
, ' . T# P all| Stre, L. Scape and leaves slender; fruit linear- 
club-shaped; the 3 carpels separating from below upwards when ripe 
from the triangular axis, awl-pointed at the base. - Marshes, both 
fresh and brackish, New York to Ohio. Aug. - Root fibrous, ffl or 
chanTellTd 6 6/ ’ 18/ ^ LeaVe8 ’ aS in the others ’ ^-cylindrical or 
2. T. Iliaritimum, L. Scape and leaves thickish , fleshy • 
fruit ovate , acutish, of 6 carpels which are rounded at the base and 
slightly grooved on the back ; rootstock horizontal. 1J. — Salt marshes 
along the coast, and at Salina, New York. Aug.— Scapes 12'- 18' 
high, stout. 
©latum, Nutt. Scape tall and stout (2P high) ; fruit 
ovate-oblong, very obtuse , of 6 linear-oblong carpels , which are round¬ 
ed at the base, and deeply grooved and sharply almost 2-winged on the 
back. )l — Cold bogs, W. New York to Wisconsin northward. June, 
Joty- — Resembles No. 2. 
2 m SCIIEUCHZERIA, L. Scheuchzeria. 
Sepals and petals oblong-, spreading, nearly alike (greenish-yel¬ 
low) but the latter narrower, persistent. Stamens 6 : anthers 
linear. Ovaries 3, globular, slightly united at the base, bearing 
flat sessile stigmas, 2 - 3-ovuled, in fruit forming 3 diverging and 
inflated 1 - 2-seeded pods opening along the inside. — A low 
bog-herb, with a creeping jointed rootstock, tapering into the as¬ 
cending simple stem, which is zigzag, partly sheathed by the 
bases of the grass-like conduplicate leaves, terminated by a loose 
raceme of a few flowers, with sheathing bracts. (Named in honor 
of the two brothers Scheuchzer y distinguished Swiss botanists.) 
S. palustris, L.—Peat bogs, northward, rather rare. July. 
Suborder II. ALISME^E. The Water-Plantain Fam. 
3. ALISJIA, L. Water-Plantain. 
Flowers perfect. Petals involute in the bud. Stamens 6. 
Ovaries many in a simple circle on a flattened receptacle, forming 
