78 ALISMACEAE 



of the basal leaves less compressed and wingless. One species. (A. E. Delile, 

 French botanist, 17781850, author of a Flora of Egypt.) 



1. L. subulata H. & B. Leaves 6 to 8 inches long, 1 to 2 lines in diameter, 

 tapering to a point ; spikes dense, % inch long or less ; basal pistillate flowers 

 often with a style 1 to 3 inches long, their fruits larger than those of the spike, 

 2~y 2 to 3 lines long. 



In water or mud of shallow vernal pools in the valleys or foothills : British 

 Columbia to middle California (where it is common), south to southern Cali- 

 fornia and Mexico. South America. 



Befs. LILAEA SUBULATA H. & B. PI. Aequin. 1: 222, t. 63 (1808); Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 193 

 (1880) ; Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflzfam. 2 1 : 225, fig. 172 (1889) ; Morong, Mem. Torr. Club, 3 2 : 

 10, pi. 24 (1893) ; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 104 (1901). 



ALISMACEAE. WATER PLANTAIN FAMILY. 



Marsh or aquatic herbs with basal leaves, scape-like flower stems and perfect 

 or unisexual flowers. Perianth of 3 outer herbaceous persistent sepals and 

 3 inner white delicate deciduous petals. Stamens 6 to many or numerous. 

 Ovaries numerous, distinct, 1-celled, 1-ovuled, becoming achenes in fruit. 

 Endosperm none; embryo strongly recurved or folded. Ten genera, temper- 

 ate and tropic zones. 



Bibliog. Buchenau, Alismataceae (Engler, Pflzr. teil 4, abt. 15, 1903). Smith, J. G., 

 Eevision of the North American Species of Sagittaria and Lophotocarpus (Eep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 

 vol. 6, pp. 27-64, pis. 1-29, 1895) ; Eevision of the Species of Lophotocarpus of the U. 8. 

 (1. c. vol. 11, pp. 145-151, pis. 53-58, 1899). 

 Achenes verticillate in a single whorl; stamens 6. 



Petals entire; style lateral; achenes minutely beaked 1. ALISMA. 



Petals incised; style apical; achenes long-beaked 2. DAMASONIUM. 



Achenes numerous, crowded on a globose or elevated receptacle; stamens 9 to many. 



Leaves entire; aehenes turgid; flowers all perfect 3. ECHINODORUS. 



Leaves typically sagittate; achenes strongly flattened; flowers not all perfect. 



Flowers polygamous, the lower perfect, the upper staminate 4. LOPHOTOCARPUS. 



Flowers unisexual, the lower pistillate, the upper staminate 5. SAGITTAEIA. 



1. ALISMA L. 



Erect perennial herbs of shallow water or mud. Inflorescence a panicle of 

 whorl ed branches each bearing a simple or compound umbel of perfect flowers. 

 Petals small, scarcely exceeding the sepals. Stamens 6, with short filaments. 

 Ovaries distinct, on a disk-like receptacle. Achenes numerous, channeled on 

 the back, crowded in a whorl. One polymorphic species, with several strongly 

 marked subspecies. (Alisma, the Greek name.) 



1. A. plantago L. WATER PLANTAIN. Plants 2 to 4 (or 6) feet high; root- 

 stock becoming almost bulbous by the sheathing bases of the petioles; leaf- 

 blades ovate to oblong, abruptly acute, the larger often subcordate at base, 

 2 to 6 (or 9 ) inches long, usually on long petioles; whorled branches of flower- 

 ing stems unequal in length, forming a loose pyramidal panicle; pedicels 1 

 inch long or less; petals white, 1 line long; achenes very strongly flattened, 

 oblong, 1 line long. 



Common along the margins of ponds, rivers, and marshy shores of lakes: 

 Coast Ranges ; Great Valley ; Sierra Nevada to 5000 feet. Widely distributed, 

 as a polymorphic species, through the north temperate zone and in north 

 Africa and Australia. 



Eefs. ALISMA PLANTAGO L. Sp. PI. 342 (1753); Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 200 (1880) ; Jepson, 

 Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 104 (1901). A. brevipes Greene, Pitt. 4: 158 (1900) ; commonly larger, flower 

 parts larger ; petals 2 to 3 lines long, much longer than the sepals. Type loc. Colorado, credited 

 to California in N. Am. Fl. 17 1 : 44. 



