1 50 FLOWERS OF LAKES, RIVERS, ETC. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



313. Lemna minor, L. Roots blunt, stemless, frond flat, obovate, 

 oblong, compressed, convex below, flowers from a cleft, in a spathe, 

 plant monoecious. 



Water Plantain (Alisma Plantago-aquatica, L.) 



As one of the Arctic plants, addicted to an aquatic habitat, one 

 might expect to find this in the Glacial plant-beds, and it is found 

 in Preglacial, Interglacial, Late Glacial, and Neolithic deposits. It is 

 found to-day in the North Temperate Zone generally, and in the 

 Himalayas and Australia. In Great Britain, Water Plantain does not 

 grow in Cardigan, Stirling, Mid Perth, Westerness, Main Argyle, 

 N. Ebudes, N. Highlands, except Ross and Northern Isles. It is 

 found in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 



Water Plantain is an aquatic plant, which becomes terrestrial under 

 certain exigencies when a piece of water is silted up. It is impartial 

 to still or running water, growing in ponds, pools, and lakes, where 

 it forms at the margin dense clumps, tall and graceful. It is less 

 frequent in running water, streams, and rivers. It grows in the reed 

 swamp. 



The aerial flowering stems, which are scapes, with broadly branch- 

 ing panicles, make an imposing show in the pool or lake. The leaves 

 are all radical, stalked, the leaf-stalks channelled and sheathed, the 

 leaves oblong, lance-shaped, acute, veined, and when floating they are 

 linear. The second Latin name indicates a resemblance between the 

 leaves of the Plantain (hence also the English name) and this plant. 



The scape bearing the flowers is three-angled, and swollen or fleshy 

 below. The white or pink flowers have a yellow claw, and are borne 

 in panicles with branches in whorls, compound, smooth, naked. The 

 numerous carpels are flattened at the side, blunt, with the style, ventral, 

 below the top of the carpel. They are twice as long as the ovary, 

 and the stigmas are simple. The perianth consists of 6 segments. 



Water Plantain is 18 in. to 2 ft. high. The flowers bloom in June 

 and July. The plant is a perennial, propagated by division. 



The white or pink flowers in a loose pyramidal panicle are yellow at 

 the base, forming a disk 10 mm. in diameter. The anthers and stigma 

 are ripe together. If the insect alights in the middle it touches the 

 stigma first, then the anthers, or else if it alights on the petals it then 

 touches the anthers covered with pollen with different parts of the body, 

 as well as the stigma. It is more likely to cross- than self- pollinate the 



