Alisma.] ALISMACEjE. 121 



1. A. Planta'go, L. ; leaves erect, flowers panieled, carpels in one 

 whorl laterally compressed, styles ventral. Water Plantain. 



Ditches, edges of streams, &c, from Eoss southd., rare in the N. ; Ireland ; 

 Channel Islands ; fl. June- Aug. — Base of stem swollen, fleshy. Leaves 6-8 

 in., petioled, ovate-lanceolate, base acute obtuse or subcordate, 5-7-ribbed, 

 young submerged or floating. Scape 1-3 ft. ; pedicels 1-1§ in. Flowers 

 § in. diam., homogamous. Petals pink or rose, claw yellow. Carpels 20-30. 

 — Distrib. Arctic and N. temp, regions, Himalaya, Australia. — Juice 

 acrid. 



A . Planta'go proper ; leaves subcordate, sepals oblong, styles twice as long as 

 the ovary. — Var. A., lanceola'tum, With.; leaves lanceolate, sepals ovate, 

 styles as long as' the ovary. 



2. A. ranunculoi'des, L. ; leaves erect linear-lanceolate, flowers um- 

 belled or whorled, carpels capitate 4-5-ribbed turgid, styles terminal. 

 Bogs and ditches, from Eoss southd.; Ireland; Channel Islands; fl. May- 

 Sept.— Tufted. Leaves petioled, blade 2-3 in., 3-ribbed ; the first developed 

 submerged, pellucid, sometimes floating. Scape 6-18 in. ; pedicel 1-3 in. 

 Flowers as in A . Planta'go, pale purplish. Carpels ovoid, apiculate. — Distrib. 

 From Gothland southd. (excl. Greece, Turkey), N. Africa. 



A. ranunculoi'des -prober', erect or suberect. — Var. A. re'pens, Davies; stem 

 procumbent geniculate rooting. Lakes, N. Wales and Ireland. 



2, ELIS' MA, Buchenau. 



Boots fibrous. Leaves floating. Flowers subsolitary from the nodes, 

 pedicelled, bracteate. Sepals, petals, and stamens of Alisma. Carpels 

 10-12 ; style terminal, short, stigma simple ; ovules solitary, erect, ana- 

 tropous, raphe dorsal. Bipe carpels oblong-ovoid, many-ribbed. Seed 

 erect, testa thin ; embryo hooked. — Distrib. Iff. and W. Europe, local. 

 — Etym. A variation from Alisma. 



E. na'tans, Buck. Alisma na'tans, L. 

 Lakes, very rare, Ayr and Wigton ; W. England, from Cumberland to Here- 

 ford and Wales; W. Ireland, rare ; fl. July-Aug. Radical leaves 2-8 in., 

 submerged, subulate-lanceolate, pellucid. Stem floating and rooting, giving 

 off long-petioled, oblong, floating leaves, |-1 in., and 1-5 slender erect 1-fld. 

 peduncles, 2-3 in., the uppermost rarely umbellate. Flowers \ in. diam., 

 petals white, claw yellow. Pipe carpels beaked. 



3. DAMASO'NIUM, JlLSS. STAR-FRUIT. 



Habit and inflorescence of Alisma, but carpels 6-10, connate at the base, 

 spreading horizontally, 2- or more-ovuled. Fruit of as many stellately 

 spreading 1- or more-seeded long-beaked carpels. Seeds, lower erect, 

 upper horizontal, testa membranous rugose ; embryo hooked. — Distrib. 

 Europe, California, Australia ; species 4. — Etym. obscure. 



D. stella' turn, Pers. ; leaves narrow oblong 3-5-nerved, base cordate. 

 Actinocar'pus Damaso'nium, Br. 



