274 OECHIDACE2E. 



both flourish freely in America. The minute flower has three 

 sepals, tinged with pink and green, three flat petals, and from 

 three to six stigmas. The footstalk is several inches in length, 

 with a sheath at the base. The leaves grow in threes, egg- 

 shaped, dark green, and sharply toothed, which causes them 

 to cling. A large quantity of silex is contained in the cells 

 along the margin of the leaf, which makes it so heavy that it 

 is rather inclined to sink than to float in water. From the 

 closely-clinging nature of the leaves they are often dragged 

 along, and portions of the stem thus broken off. Each whorl 

 has the power of rooting, and can grow as it travels down the 

 stream, without requiring to adhere to the mud at the sides or 

 bottom. It is a wicked and dangerous weed, and has been the 

 death of more than one bather; and fishermen detest it, because 

 it either drags away their lines altogether, or robs them both 

 of hook and bait. No one has yet been able clearly to ascertain 

 how the plant got into our British streams ; it is possible that 

 a seed or joint might have come in a crevice in the American 

 timber which was employed in the Watford Docks. From 

 hence the communication would be easy with the Oxford and 

 Leicestershire canals, the Trent, and its tributaries. It may 

 have spread into the Cam from the Botanical Gardens of 

 Cambridge; and as many other water-plants are known to 

 have been introduced into Dunse Loch, it is possible that this 

 may belong to their number, At all events botanists have no 

 hesitation in classing it among British flowers. 



The OECHIS order succeed the Frogbits, and are a much more 

 numerous group. The flowers are arranged in a spike, and are 

 all perfect. The calyx has three sepals ; the corolla is divided 

 into three parts two petals, and a nectary or lip, the latter 

 often having a spur behind. In hot countries most of this 

 tribe are epiphytes, or parasites on other plants ; but in tem- 

 perate climates they grow, as with us, from the ground. They 

 delight in warmth and heat, and are seldom found in dry cold 

 places. They have generally only one anther, and instead of 

 stigmas they have a sticky cavity. The fragrant Yanilla, 



