1159 



In the first and second editions of the same book, there is also a 

 plant described, under the name of P. zosteraceus. Fries ? which was 

 very slightly known to me, it having been noticed in Hyde Park only. 



In the year 1849, my attention was again directed to the plant, by 

 Mr. Borrer informing me that Mr. Kirk, of Coventry, had shown him 

 plenty of P. pectinatus and P. zosteraceus, Bab., growing near to that 

 city. An application to the latter botanist obtained for me a series of 

 most characteristic ^specimens of it, and convinced me (as an exami- 

 nation of the living plants had previously satisfied Mr. Borrer) that it 

 was specifically distinct from P. pectinatus and P. zosteraceus, Fries. 

 Accordingly, in the ' Manual ' (ed. 3) the name of zosteraceus is 

 changed mio flahellatus, a term derived from the usually fan-shaped 

 habit of the flowering plant. 



To revert to the plant found near Bath. In the month of July, 

 1853, I had occasion to spend some days at that city, and took advan- 

 tage of the opportunity to endeavour to determine the doubtful pond- 

 weed. At that time there were no flowers nor fruit to be found, but 

 abundance of barren specimens. Fortunately, their young state 

 enabled me to decide with certainty that which might have been only 

 a probability at a later period. Plenty of the earlier leaves, although 

 much tending towards decay, continued to be attached to the plants ; 

 and thus it became quite certain that they belonged to my P. flahel- 

 latus. On re-visiting Bath in the month of October, 1853, I was 

 equally unsuccessful in obtaining fruit or flowers, but saw an abun- 

 dance of the broad leaves which are so characteristic of the species. 



As the plant is apparently still but little known, a few notes, 

 extracted from my observations upon it, may not be out of place. 



There is a prostrate perennial rhizome creeping at the bottom of 

 the water or in the mud, rooting at its joinings, and clothed at longish 

 intervals with short, black, rather loose, clasping sheaths. From this 

 rhizome spring solitary, long, floating stems, which are simple below, 

 but become very much branched as they approach the surface of the 

 water, where they spread in a more or less fan-shaped manner. They 

 are very thick and strong in their lower part, not filiform like those of 

 P. pectinatus. 



The sheaths of the lower leaves are very large. Those leaves vary 

 considerably in width, but may always be described as broad ; they 

 have 3, and sometimes 5, nerves, quite distinct from the edge, with 

 transverse connecting veins. They do not at all resemble the leaves 

 of P. pectinatus, which are formed of two conspicuous tubes, inter- 

 rupted at intervals by transverse membranes, and separated by a 



