48 



TEE ABT ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA. 



flowers, which are minute and flesh-coloured, grow in the axils of the opjiosite leaA'es. 

 U. hrjdropiper, the Water Pepper, scarcely difl'ers from the preceding, except that the 

 flowers are octandrous. They might be so^mi with advantage on the shelving banks of 

 artificial water, to conceal the unsightliness of mud. 



1. ELATINE AMERICANA {Arnott.) The American Water-wort. 



Specific Chakactek. — A minute, glabrous, prostrate, 

 matted aquatic. Steni ratlier succulent, creeping, sometimes 

 elongated, and 1-8 in. long. Leaves small, ^-\ in. long, 

 obovate-oblong, obtuse, quite entire, shortly petioled. Flowers 



minute, sessile, 3-merous. Calyx persistent. Capsule with 

 the septa disappearing. Seeds slightly cuiTed. — Handbook of 

 New Zealand Flora, p. 2S. 



Description, etc. — This minute aquatic is j^robably common in bogs in the Northern 

 Island. It is also found in Tasmania, Australia, the Eijis, and North and South America. 

 Equally with the European species, it would be found of use in clothing the margins of 

 artificial water to hide unsightly approaches. 



