302 NAIADACE.E. 



The Pondweed order is composed chiefly of the extensive 

 family which gives the name to the order. These plants have 

 cellular stems, and either transparent or leathery leaves. 



I think I have already mentioned an excursion which we all 

 took to Hawksborough, with the intention of fossilising in the 

 coal mines of that district. On arriving there our courage 

 failed us, the ladies feared both the mines and the miners, and 

 we were utterly at fault. There were some disgusting ponds, 

 some heaps of coal rubbish, and a canal ; these were all the 

 resources that the place afforded. A party of us began to hunt 

 about for plants, and having drawn the Spiked Milfoil from a 

 pond, and being nearly smothered by the odour we evoked, we 

 determined to try the canal. There was plenty of weed, and I 

 hooked a quantity out. 



My first piece of spoil was the Perfoliate Pondweed (Pota- 

 mogeton perfoliatum). The leaves are not pierced by their 

 stalk, as they should be to make the plant fully deserve its 

 name, but they clasp the stem with their heart-shaped bases. 

 They are brownish, and quite transparent, and when dry they 

 resemble gold-beater's skin. The spike dips itself under water, 

 and the few green flowers have four petals, four stamens, and 

 four stigmas. All the Pondweed family are alike in the number 

 of the parts of their flowers. 



The Shining Pondweed (P. lucens), also graced the canal; it 

 has large lance-shaped leaves, also of a brownish hue, and very 

 transparent, and its spike is large and rises above the water. 



The common Chara (Chara vulgaris), I got likewise out of 

 that productive canal. 



A little later in July Edward was prowling about certain 

 fishponds near Hawkhurst ; there was a tangled mass of weed 

 just beyond the reach of the longest stick he could find. 

 Luckily some men were working in an adjoining field, and he 

 borrowed a long rake from them and hauled out a quantity of 

 the weed. 



The Broad-leaved Pondweed (P. natans), was there; its upper 



