WHITE WATER LILY 71 



The plant is dispersed by the agency of water or by animals. The 

 achenes when ripe either fall to the bottom or float about on the surface 

 of the water. The stems, &c., are likely to be dispersed by wading- 

 and swimming-birds. 



Water Fennel is a Hydrophyte and aquatic belonging to the sub- 

 merged and floating-leaf associations. 



No fungi infest the plant, nor do insects feed upon it. 



Pliny invented the name Ranunculus, which is a diminutive of the 

 Latin rana, a frog, and so a little frog, the Ranunculus affording a 

 habitat for little frogs in early spring; while trichophyllns is from 

 Greek thrix, hair, phyllus, leaf. In Buttercup or Buttercop, cop 

 means a head. Water Fennel, in allusion to its leaves resembling 

 Fennel, is the only vernacular name. 



Unlike the terrestrial buttercups, which cause blistering, this plant 

 is innocuous. Cattle have been fed on these Water Crowfoots by the 

 Avon banks, and when freshly taken from the river cows enjoy it. In 

 reference to the amphibious forms as a whole, Dr. Pulteney (a Leicester- 

 shire botanist) showed that they are highly nutritious. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



5. Ranunculus trie hop hyllus, Chaix. Submerged leaves not col- 

 lapsing, petals 7-veined, buds globose, flowers white, with a yellow 

 centre, carpels compressed. 



White Water Lily (Castalia alba, Wood) 



Seeds of the White Water Lily occur in Interglacial beds and 

 recent alluvium. It is found in the Arctic and North Temperate Zone 

 in Arctic Europe, N. Africa, N. and W. Asia to Kashmir, and it is 

 found in North America. This plant is absent from Devon, the Isle 

 of Wight, N. Hants, Essex, W. Gloucs, Monmouth, Hereford, Pem- 

 broke, Montgomery, Denbigh, N.W. Yorks, Durham, S. Northumber- 

 land, Cheviotland, Isle of Man, occurring only in E. Lowlands in 

 Edinburgh, Linlithgow, not in Stirling, Banff, Mid Ebudes, Caithness, 

 and Orkneys, and up to 1000 ft. in the Lake district. It is found 

 in Ireland. 



The White Water Lily is found in similar habitats to the Yellow 

 Water Lily, but whilst the latter is often found in rivers, as well as 

 ponds and lakes, the former is much more common in still waters. It 

 has doubtless been planted here and there on account of its choice 

 beauty, but in most localities is native. With the Yellow Water Lily, 

 though they seldom grow intermixed, it forms a striking contrast. 



