﻿200 Nichols: The vegetation of Connecticut 



wise functionless, dead aerial part of the stem, and the following 

 season sends up a fresh series of aerial stems. Some of these grow 

 outward over the open water, thus extending the margin of the 

 mat lakeward; others reach shoreward, thereby more effectually 

 uniting the newer with the oldef portions of the mat; while yet 

 others grow out in lateral directions, in this way binding together 



more firmly the integral parts of the still rudimentary structure. 

 At this stage the mat is little more than a framework, consisting 

 of a loose aggregation of the Decodon plants. But upon the stools 

 formed by the Decodon, and about its roots, other plants soon 

 appear, and as these increase in number, reaching across from one 

 stool to another, the skeleton gradually becomes transformed into 

 a continuous, compact body. 



Importance of Other Plants in Mat Formation. — Often one of 

 the earliest plants to appear among the Decodon stools is the 

 Sphagnum. But while this moss may act as a space filler, it adds 

 little to the strength of the mat; for its stems, weak and nearly 



