NAIADACE®. 59 
Stems slender, branched. Leaves alternate and opposite, much re- 
sembling those of Potamogeton eu-pectinatus, alternate, and having 
the stipules adhering to the petiole of the leaf, so as to form a sheath, 
as in that plant. Peduncles raising the spikes nearly an inch out of 
the water when in flower, but afterwards twisting spirally, so as to 
submerge the fruit, at length 2 to 4 inches long. Pedicels of the nuts 
$ to 1 inch long or even more. Nuts olive, § inch long, succulent and 
green until completely ripe. Plant bright green, turning black in 
drying. 
Greater Ruppia. 
French, Ruppie maritime. German, Meerstrands-Ruppie. 
’ PP} ) 
Sus-Srecies (?) I.—Ruppia rostellata. Koch. 
Pirate MCCCCXXVIIL. 
| Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. et Helv. Vol. VII. Tab. XVII. Fig. 25. 
Billot, Fl). Gall. et Germ. Exsicc. No. 655. 
_R, maritima, Linn. Herb. 
R. maritima, var. 3, Hook. & Arn. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 485. 
Leaves linear-setaceous, with close-fitting sheaths. Peduncles very 
short at the time of flowering, and scarcely raising the spike above the 
water, at length about as long as or a little longer than the pedicels of 
the nuts, flexuous. Anthers quadrate-orbicular, about as long as 
broad. Nuts very obliquely ovate-ovoid, acuminated into a rather 
short beak which forms a continuation of the outer margin of the nut. 
Tn brackish ditches and pools. Rather common, and generally dis- 
tributed. I do not possess specimens from counties farther south than 
Essex and Gloucester, but it occurs at Brading, Isle of Wight, and 
Mr. H. C. Watson gives it as an inhabitant of Somerset. In Scotland 
I have collected it in Kirkcudbright, Haddington, and Orkney, and 
Dr. Dickie states that it occurs in Kincardineshire, and at Banff, and 
Thave no doubt it is the plant generally reported as R. maritima, from 
Scotland. In Ireland it is not unfrequent, and generally distributed 
round the coast. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Summer. Autumn. 
__ Very similar to R. spiralis, but with narrower leaves and less 
inflated sheaths, on account of the stipules being narrowed rather 
suddenly a little above the base. The peduncles are much shorter 
_ both in flower and fruit, and though flexuous, I have never seen them 
curled into rings as in R. spiralis; the nuts are a little smaller and 
_ very obliquely acuminated into a longer beak than that of the pre- 
ceding form; the anthers, too, are rounder. 
This plant appears to flower considerably earlier than R. spiralis—at 
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