WATEE PLANTAIN AEEOWHEAD. 297 



and the Arrowhead. The former have three sepals and three 

 petals, six stamens, and numerous styles. 



The stem of the common species (Alisma plantago), rises two 

 or three feet high, and then flower-stalks diverge in branched 

 whorls. The blossoms are pale lilac, and the plant would be 

 very handsome but that the petals fall so quickly, that never 

 more than a third part of the flowers are open at once. The 

 leaves are large, oval- shaped, and of a very delicate green. It 

 grows in many of .the ponds about Hawkhurst, flowering in 

 July and August. 



There are a Floating^ Water Plantain (A. natans), with simple 

 flower-stalks, and a Lesser Water Plantain (A. ranunculoides), 

 with larger flowers and lance-shaped leaves, but they are only 

 found on mountain lakes ; and there is the Starry-headed Water 

 Plantain (A. damasonium), which has clusters of small white 

 flowers, heart-shaped leaves, and two seeds instead of one in 

 each carpel. I have no specimens of these three kinds. 



Both the Learn and the Avon boast the Arrowhead (Sagit- 

 taria sagittifolia, Plate XVII. , jig. 3), among their charms. 

 It>is a beautiful plant, the only one of its family. The stamens 

 and pistils are in different flowers, and the leaves grow from 

 the root, and are arrow-shaped. The blossoms are arranged in 

 whorled spikes, and each one is as large as a Primrose. The 

 three petals are of a brilliant white, with a blotch of deep 

 violet at its base. The root of this plant was once believed to 

 be a cure for hydrophobia, but that opinion is exploded. 

 Some species are cultivated in China for their roots, which are 

 there accounted a pleasant vegetable. 



The AEEOW-GEASS order have three petals and three sepals ; 

 they have six stamens and three stigmas. The leaves are 

 thread-shaped and channelled, and the tall spikes are narrow, 

 beset with the small green flowers. 



The Marsh Arrow-grass (Triglochin palustre), grows in 

 swampy fields near Richmond, in Yorkskire. 



The Sea Arrow-grass (T. maritima), flourishes on the muddy 



