384 THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



A very beautiful but rare plant grows in the upper 

 part of the Thames, the Isis, and Cherwell, and in 

 some of the slow-running rivers of Cambridgeshire and 

 Norfolk, as well as in ornamental waters the FRINGED 

 WATER-LILY (Villarsia nymphoeoides) Fig. in " E. B.," 921. 

 The flowers are large and yellow and very curiously 

 plaited. Leaves green, heart-shaped, floating. Flowers 

 June to September. 



The canals in Holland are often covered with this 

 flower, and, according to Ksempfer, the Japanese salt the 

 leaves, which, by this process, become very glutinous, and 

 are used in soup. 



Of the Water-Dropworts ((Enanthe), (from the Greek 

 oine, a vine, and anthos, a flower, alluding to the vinous 

 smell of the blossoms), the three most common species 

 are : 



1. The COMMON DROPWORT (CEnanthe fistulosd) Fig. in 

 " E. B.," 593. Plant two to three feet high, chiefly found 

 in ditches and rivulets. Flowers July and August. 



2. The HEMLOCK WATER- DROP WORT (CEnanthe crocata) 

 Fig. in " E. B./' 597. Plant three to four feet high, dif- 

 fering from the other species in the great breadth of its 

 leaflets, and large, much ramified stems, full of a very 

 poisonous yellow juice. Flowers white. This is one of 

 the most poisonous of the umbelliferous plants, and as the 

 root is like celery, some very serious and fatal mistakes 

 have occurred. It flowers in June and July, and in some 

 places grows in great abundance. 



3. The FINE-LEAVED WATER-DROPWORT (CEnanthe phel- 

 landrium) Fig. in " E. B.," 598. Flowers July. All 

 these, if allowed, grow to a considerable height, and we 

 know of nothing more tiresome than the line getting en- 

 tangled in a branch of Water-Hemlock. 



The COMMON YELLOW WATER-LILY (Nuphar luted] Fig. 

 in " E. B.," 54 ; from Naufar, Arabic for Nymph&a\ also 

 called Yellow Watercan, is a beautiful and elegant orna- 

 ment in many of our lakes and slow-running rivers. Its 

 large floating leaves some of them a foot wide and 

 bright yellow flowers are very conspicuous. The flowers 



