FLOWERS OF THE LAKES, RIVERS, DITCHES, 

 WET PLACES, ETC. 



[There is a direct connection between purely aquatic vegetation, or those types of plants that live in water, 

 wholly submerged or floating, or partly submerged, through the last, or the reed swamp, with that marginal 

 vegetation which consists of marsh vegetation, the fen formation, ordinary wet meadows such as rush associa- 

 tions, or even lowland moors or bogs. Hence some proportion of the plants selected for inclusion in this section 

 (more particularly included in those which are found in wet places) are of this last type, or paludal, and not of 

 purely aquatic or lacustral type, though occasionally purely aquatic. In the same way some water plants 

 become terrestrial, by reason of change in the water-level.] 



ORDER RANUNCULACE^ 



Rigid-leaved Water Buttercup (Ranunculus 

 ct'rcinafus, Sibth. = R. fceniculaceus, Gilib.). The 

 habitat of this plant is pools, ditches, streams, 

 ponds, still and slow-flowing water. The plant is 

 not common. The plant, which is dark- green, 

 has the aquatic habit. It is of the submerged 

 type. The stem is submerged. There are no 

 floating leaves. The leaves are small, not stalked, 

 rounded, with rigid lobes in one plane, thrice 

 forked, sheathing, without auricles, and they form 

 a flat rigid disk. The flowers are white, small, 

 with numerous veins, twice as long as the sepals. 

 The receptacle is hairy, not so wide as the flower- 

 stalk. The buds are flattened at the top. There 

 are 15-20 stamens, and they are longer than the 

 pistil. The achenes are flattened, acute. The 

 style, which is slender, falls at length. The plant 

 is submerged. It flowers between June and 

 August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



River Water Buttercup (Ranunculus fluitans, 

 Lam.). The habitat of this plant is running 

 streams and rivers. The plant has the aquatic 

 habit. The stems are long, robust, submerged. 

 The leaves are all submerged, with long, rigid, 

 parallel segments, which are few, narrow, tassel- 

 like, twice or thrice forked. The leaf-stalks and 

 some of the leaf-segments may reach a length of 

 a foot. They are black, and form rigid tassels. 

 Rarely floating leaves, which are 3 - lobed or 

 divided, the segments shortly-stalked, are found. 

 The stipules are broad and lance - shaped or 

 rounded. The flowers are large, white, yellow at 

 the base. The flower-stalks are tapering, long, 

 and robust. There may be more than 5 petals, 

 and in 2 rows, broadly inversely ovate, with many 

 veins, contiguous, and they do not fall. The re- 

 ceptacle is conical and smooth. There are numer- 

 ous short stamens. The stigma is cylindrical, 

 short, and thick. The achenes are large, few, 

 turgid. The plant reaches a length of several 

 feet. It is in flower between May and August, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Ranunculus Drouelii, F. Sch. The habitat of 

 this species is ponds and ditches. It is of aquatic 

 habit. The stem does not rise out of the water. 

 The submerged leaves are light -green, thrice 

 forked, with limp, tassel-like segments. The float- 

 ing leaves are rare, and disappear, being 3-partite, 

 the segments more or less stalkless, or stalked, 

 wedge-shaped, divided into two. The upper leaves 

 are more or less stalkless. The lateral segments 

 are stalked, not in the same plane, spreading. 

 The leaves collapse when removed from the water. 

 The whole plant is light-green. The stipules are 

 large, auricled. The flowers are white, starlike, 

 small, the petals 5-7, veined, inversely ovate, soon 

 falling. The buds are oblong. The stamens are 

 few, and longer than the stigma. The latter is 

 oblong, the receptacle oblong. The receptacle in 

 fruit is as thick as the flower-stalk. The achenes 

 are inversely ovate. The plant is floating or sub- 

 merged. The flowers are in bloom in May and 

 June, and the plant is a herbaceous perennial. 



Water Buttercup (Ranunculus heterophyllus, 

 Weber). The habitat of this plant is streams and 

 ponds. The plant is of aquatic habit. The stem 

 does not rise out of the water. The submerged 

 leaves are thrice forked, with long segments, tassel- 

 like, spreading. The floating leaves are nearly 

 round, deeply cut into 3-5 wedge-shaped segments, 

 stalked or stalkless. The flowers are white with 

 yellow centres, the petals y-g-veined, distinct, not 

 falling, inversely ovate to wedge-shaped, longer 

 than the sepals. The receptacle is conical. The 

 flower-stalks are not longer than the leaves. The 

 stigma is not as long as the stamens (which are 

 numerous), and oblong, short, and blunt. The 

 style is hooked. The achenes are smooth or 

 hairy. The plant is floating or submerged. It is 

 in flower between May and July, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Ranunculus lutarius, Boul. = R. intermedtus, 

 Bab. The habitat of this plant is damp ground 

 and wet ditches. The plant has a suberect habit, 

 with aerial stems. The leaves are 3 parts rounded, 

 the lateral lobes with 3, the middle with 2-4, 



