MENYANTHACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



i. Menyanthes trifoliata L. Buckbean. 



Marsh or Bean Trefoil. Bog-bean 



or -myrtle. Fig. 3370. 



Menyanthes trifoliata L. Sp. PI. 145. 1753. 



Rootstock thick, scaly, sometimes i long, mark- 

 ed by the scars of bases of former petioles. Leaves 

 3-foliolate; petioles sheathing at the base, 2'-io' 

 long ; leaflets oblong or obovate, entire, obtuse at 

 the apex, narrowed to the sessile base, pinnately 

 veined, ii'~3' long; raceme borne on a long 

 scape-like naked peduncle, arising from the root- 

 stock, io-20-flowered ; pedicels stout, 3"-i2" long, 

 bracteolate at the base; flowers 5"-6" long; calyx 

 shorter than the white or purplish corolla, which 

 is bearded with white hairs within ; stamens 

 shorter than the corolla and style exserted, or 

 longer and style nearly included; capsule ovoid, 

 obtuse, about 4" long. 



In bogs, Greenland to Alaska, south to Long Island, 

 Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Nebraska and California. 

 Also in Europe and Asia. Water- or bitter trefoil. 

 Water-shamrock. Moon-flower. Marsh-clover. Bitter 

 worm. Bog-nut. Brook-bean. May-July. 



2. NYMPHOIDES Hill, Brit. Herb. 77. 1756. 

 [LIMNANTHEMUM S. G. Gmelin, Nov. Act. Acad. Petrop. 14 : 527. pi. 17. f. 2. 1769.] 



Aquatic perennial herbs, with slender rootstocks. Leaves floating, petioled, ovate or 

 orbicular, deeply cordate, entire or repand, or the primary ones different ; flowers yellow or 

 white, polygamous, umbellate at the summit of filiform stems at the bases of the petioles, or 

 axillary, often accompanied by a cluster of thick elongated root-like tubers. Calyx 5-parted. 

 Corolla nearly rotate, deeply 5-cleft, the lobes induplicate-valvate in the bud, sometimes 

 fimbriate on the margins, glandular at the base. Stamens 5, inserted on the base of the 

 corolla; filaments short; anthers sagittate, versatile. Ovary i-celled; style short or none; 

 stigma 2-lamellate. Capsule ovoid or oblong, indehiscent or irregularly bursting. Seeds 

 numerous or few, smooth or rough. [Greek, like Nymphaea.] 



About 20 species, widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions. The following are the 

 only ones known to occur in North America. Type species : Nymphoides flava Hill. 



Flowers white, accompanied by tufts of root-like tubers; native species. 



Floating leaves \'-z' long; flowers 3 "-6" broad; seeds smooth. i. N.lacunosum. 



Floating leaves 2' -6' long ; flowers 6"-io" broad ; seeds rough. 2. N. aquaticum. 



Flowers not accompanied by tufts of tubers; corolla bright yellow, i' broad or more; introduced 

 species. 3. N. nymphaeoides. 



i. Nymphoides lacunosum (Vent.) Kuntze. 

 Floating Heart. Fig. 3371. 



Villarsia lacunosa Vent. Choix des Plantes, 9. 1803. 

 Limnanthemum lacunosum Griseb. Gent. 347. 1839. 

 Nymphoides lacunosum Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 429. 1891. 



Rootstock buried in the mud, the roots long and 

 fibrous. Primary leaves membranous, submerged, short- 

 petioled; stems (stolons) filiform, greatly elongated, 

 sometimes 10 long, bearing a short-petioled floating 

 leaf, an umbel of flowers and a cluster of narrow tubers 

 at its summit, or some of the floating leaves on petioles 

 as long as the stems ; floating leaves ovate-orbicular, 

 purplish beneath, i'-2' long, the basal sinus narrow or 

 broad; pedicels slender: tubers linear-conic, \'\' long; 

 flowers nearly white, 3"-6" broad; style none; capsule 

 ovoid, covered by the connivent calyx-segments; seeds 

 numerous, smooth. 



In ponds. Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Ontario, Min- 

 nesota and Louisiana. July-Aug. 



