
AQUATIC PLANTS OF FRESHWATER 

assigning the long-leaved varieties of C. /anceolata with less crinkled leaves 
to C. graminez. ‘This is not essential to the aquariist. The author illus- 
trates the species as he recognizes them. It is a variable genus some- 
times difficult of identification. 
WATERCRESSES 
The Family of Roripa or Watercresses contain about 25 species, 
most abundant in the North temperate zone, of which eleven are native to 
North America. Of these the species generally distributed in the East- 
ern and Middle States are:— 
Roripa palustris (Linn.) Nasturtium terrestre(A. Br.)or Marsh or Yellow 
Watercress, an erect, branching, glabrous plant having the lower leaves 
petioled and the upper leaves nearly sessile, with yellow flowers and 
linear-oblong fruit pods. Flowers May to August. Found in swampy 
localities throughout entire North America, except the extreme north. 
Roripa sylvestris (Linn.) N. sylvestris (A. Br.) or Creeping Yellow 
Watercress has a creeping stem rooting at the nodules, with ascending 
branches, pinnately divided and toothed leaves and yellow flowers. Found 
in low ground and wet places from Massachusetts to Virginia and Ohio. 
Roripa nasturtium (Linn.) N. officinale (A. Br.)or Watercress, Fountain- 
cress, the edible Watercress, has branched floating and creeping stems 
rooting from the nodules, with odd-pinnate, ovate leaves, and white flowers, 
and may be found in almost every coldwater brook of North America. 
Many cultivated varieties have been produced from this species. 
Another species is Roripa hispida, or Bristly Yellow Watercress which 
is more seldom met with. It grows on the borders of sluggish streams 
and ponds. 
Of these, Fountaincress and the creeping Yellow Watercress thrive 
fairly well submerged in the aquarium and all the species make ornate 
plants for the aqua-terrarium. 
Closely related to the cresses is another very desirable plant which 
thrives in the aquarium, the generally introduced Moneywort. 
Lysimachia nummularia (Linn.) or Moneywort, Creeping Loosestrife, 
also known as Creeping Jenny and Herb-twopence, is a border plant that 
overhangs the water and develops roots which take their sustenance 
from the water. It has a glabrous, creeping stem, rooting at the nodules, 
with opposite, broadly ovate leaves, obtuse at both ends and solitary yellow 
flowers. This plant thrives satisfactorily in the aquarium, either rooted in 
soil or in pebbles; and may be found in moist and wet places from New- 
foundland to New Jersey, west to Indiana; and to be had of florists. It 
is a fairly good oxygenator and a fine foliage plant in the aquarium where 
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