154 



Aquatic Organisms 



water. Increase is by budding and outgrowth of new 

 lobes from pre-existing thalli. Flowering and seed 

 production are of rare occurrence. 



Trie water lily 

 family includes 

 the more con- 

 spicuous of the 

 broad-leaved 

 aquatics, which 

 pre-empt the 

 rich bottom mud 

 with stout root 

 stocks , and 

 heavily shade 

 the water with 

 large shield- 

 shaped leaves, 

 either floating 

 upon the sur- 

 face, as in the 

 water shield and 

 water lilies or 

 lifted somewhat 

 above it , as in the 

 spatterdock and 

 the lotus. They 

 are long-lived 

 perennials, re- 

 quiring a rich 

 muck soil to root 

 in. These are 

 distinguished 

 for the beauty 

 and fragrance of 

 their flowers. 



FIG. 64. Leaf -whorls. 



A, and C, the hornwort (Ceratophyllum); B, the water milfoil 

 (Myriophyllum) . A is an old leaf, the upper half normally 

 covered with algae and silt; the lower half cleaned, save for a 

 closely adherent dwelling-tube of a midge larva in the fork at 

 the right. C, is a young partly expanded leaf whorl from the 

 apical bud. 



