The Morphology of Ruppia Maritima. 71 
considerable modification in this way. The period of blooming is 
at hand, and although no flowers have yet appeared, we find flower 
buds at the ends of the lateral branches as well as at the termination 
of the main shoot itself. 
Some of the modifications here exhibited are the varying orien- 
tation of nodes and internodes—an arrangement evidently brought 
about to obtain the most advantageous light, space, &c.;—the 
irregularity in length of internodes, those at the base of the plant 
being not necessarily the longest; and the number of leaves borne 
on the branches previous to the development of flowers, for since 
the latter must bloom above the surface of the water, the lowest 
branches must necessarily be longer and hence bear more leaves. 
In its development of flower buds, the case is a good illustration 
of the manner of change from the vegetative branching to the in- 
florescent type, as described below. 
b. Inflorescent Branch System. 
Irmisch (1851) has 
accurately described 
the inflorescent type 
of branching in R. 
rostellata, but for the \ \ 
sake of completeness tc 
and confirmation in \ 
R. maritima, 1 will 
review the more im- \ 
portant points. W 
When the upright 
or upward growing 
branches arrive at or 
near the surface of a \\ 
the water, their api- 
ces terminate in in- 
florescences, asshown 
diagrammatically in 
Text-fig. 1, consisting 
of a slender peduncle Figure 1.—Diagrammatic representation of inflor- 
escent branch system; @ and 4, stronger and 
and a rhachis homol- weaker shoots respectively ; 7, Z/, and ///, suc- 
ogous to a spadix, the cessive generations of sympodial development ; 
latter bearing always EEA: 
two flowers. From now on the inflorescent type of branching prevails. 
For from the axil of each of the two nearly opposite leaves sub- 
tending the peduncle (see p. 97 ff.) arises a secondary branch (Text- 


