96 WILD TLOWERS OF SPRING. 



"What wonderful organism does the still pool reveal 

 to us ! the thick green scum is but a mass of Crowsilk, 

 a green thready mass, very apt to appear in tanks. 

 The Quiverworts and Quickmosses, and the wonderful 

 Duckweeds and Pondweeds, all excite our attention as 

 we wander in search of wild flowers. Even the Duck- 

 weeds (Lemnd) are flowering plants, but it will 

 require a pair of sharp eyes to discern the bright 

 anthers on the edges of the green scale-like leaf 

 which forms such a verdant coat for the pool or ditch. 

 There are several varieties, distinguished principally 

 by the shape of the fronds. The Pondweeds (Pata- 

 mogeton) are almost equally as well known to the 

 angler and the saunterer by the river-side, though but 

 few can distinguish the many different species from 

 each other. These transparent, somewhat leathery 

 reddish-brown spikes of leaves, sometimes in early 

 spring rise above the surface of the water, but usually 

 the foliage is immersed, and floats about in the 

 crystal stream like the glorious seaweeds in the 

 clear waters of the ocean. They are occasionally 

 several feet long. The most common species are the 

 Curled, the Shiny, and the Perfoliate species. The 

 thread-like whorls of the Horuworts (Ceralopliyllum) 



