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and the same stem, as if it were probable that the foliage of the barren 

 and of the lower portion of the flowering stem of ffi. fluviatilis 

 differed in character. Feeling that there was a certain discrepancy of 

 opinion amongst botanists on the subject, I was led to make sundry 

 examinations of the stems of QL. fluviatilis during the last month, with 

 a view of ascertaining the real meaning of the different conditions of 

 the plant; and such conclusions as I have been led to I beg to lay 

 before the readers of the ' Phytologist.' 



The flowering shoot of CEnanthe fluviatilis has been so well de- 

 scribed by the Rev. W. H. Coleman, that any reference to that part 

 of the plant is needless. The portion to which, in the present obser- 

 vations, I feel most desirous of attracting attention is that from which 

 the submersed leaves grow. 



This portion is a creeping stem, varying in length from two or 

 three inches to a foot, according to age, and in diameter from a quar- 

 ter to half an inch and more. The barren or distal extremity is cor 

 piously supplied with roots, and the portion extending from the rooted 

 extremity to the origin of the terminating leaves is furnished with 

 nodes and internodes. In full-grown stems the length of the inter- 

 nodes varies from a quarter of an inch to an inch, being greatest about 

 the middle of the stem. From the under part of the nodes, radicles 

 pass down into the mud. About the commencement of July, and pro- 

 bably at other seasons, buds, destined to become young plants, sprout 

 out from the sides of the nodes, taking a lateral direction, their leafy 

 termination curving upwards in the water. 



In a very short period, and whilst attached to the parent stem, these 

 young plants, terminated by leaves having the character of the sub* 

 mersed leaves, exhibit the creeping character of the stem, with its 

 nodes and internodes, and roots striking into the mud. As well as 

 roots and leaves, these small plants are furnished occasionally with 

 long, green, thread-like fibres, springing from the upper nodes, near 

 the leafy buds. With these I was for some time puzzled, until I met 

 with something that induced me to form the opinion that these green 

 fibres might be the early condition of the flowering shoots. 



I was led to the above conclusion by finding attached to a large, 

 creeping stem, which was terminated by a flowering shoot, and which 

 was furnished with young leafy stems at its nodes, two long, fragile 

 fibres, eighteen inches in length. Springing from the three or fouv 

 distant nodes of these long fibres, were the young leaves and incipi- 

 ent flower-stalks of a flowering shoot ; so that it is pretty clear that 

 the flowering shoots and submersed leaves arc producible from the 



