208 POTAMOGETON. [class IV. ORDER III. 



Habitat. — Ditches and slow streams; frequent. 

 Perennial; flowering in June and July. 



** Leaves alternate, sheathing, with adnate stipules, 



2. P. pectina'tus, Linn. (Fig. 265.) Fennel-leaved Pondweed. Leaves 

 linear or bristle-shaijed, single-ribbed ; nuts very large, keeled at 

 the back. 



English Botany, t, .123.— English Flora, vol, i. p. 237.— Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 248. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 75. 



Root tuberous, with long, creeping, branched steins. Stem very 

 slender, numerously branched, and very leafy. Leaves narrow, linear, 

 long, slender, acute, alternate, single-ribbed, dilated at the base into 

 thin, pale, membranous shealhs, elongated, and cloven at the top^ 

 similar to the ligula in grasses. Spikes terminal, on a slender stalk, 

 of a few interrupted flowers, which rise above the surface. 



Habitat. — In rivers, ponds, and ditches, whether of fresh or salt 

 water. 



Perennial ; flowering in July. 



This is an exceedingly variable plant, especially in the size of its 

 foliage ; in clear running streams it is mostly very large, but seldom 

 produces flowers. 



*** Leaves alternate, all linear, submersed; stipules free. 



3. P. pusil'lus, Linn. (Fig. 266.) small Pondweed. Leaves linear, 

 narrow, opposite or alternate, three to five nerved, with slender 

 lateral veins ; peduncle many times longer than the spike. 



English Botany, t. 215.— English Flora, vol. i. p. 236.— Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 249. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 75. 



B. major ; stem more compressed. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 

 74. — P. compress'us, Linn. English Botany, t. 418. — English Flora, 

 vol. i. p. 234. 



Root fibrous. Stem slender, slightly compressed, branched, sub- 

 mersed, except the spike. Leaves alternate below, opposite above, 

 mostly acute, under a line in breadth, often two inches long, the mid- 

 rib slightly reticulated, lateral veins towards the margin very faint. 

 Stipules bri)adei than the leaves, sheathing. Spikes short, lateral, from 

 the axils of the leaves, at first short and close, but in maturity loose 

 and interrupted. 



S. P. major, although distinguished by Linnieus and later botanists 

 as a species, is considered by others a variety only, a conclusion with 

 which we fully agree. 



Habitat.— Ditches, ponds, and slow stieanis. 



Perennial ; flowering in July, 



