56 



WILD FLOWERS 



according as it grows actually in the water or only along the 

 water's edge, it produces different types of leaves : in the water 



114. Amphibious Persicaria. 



115. Water-Plantain. 



the leaves are oblong, dark glossy green, and unwettable, so that 

 they float on the surface : on land they are lance-shaped, lighter 

 green, and slightly hairy : the flowers 

 are pale rose, and gathered in close ter- 

 minal spikes; they appear in late summer 

 and autumn. 



115. Water-Plantain, Alisma Plan- 

 tago-aquatica, Water- Plantain family. A 

 plant of the boggy margins of ponds and 

 lakes, flowering in late summer : the tall, 

 slender stem bears a large, loose brush 

 of small, pale rose-flowers: the leaves 

 are large, ovate or lance-shaped, with 

 long stalks, but any growing under water 

 are quite narrow. 



116. Flowering-Rush, Butomus umbel- 

 latus, Water-Plantain family. A very 

 beautiful inhabitant of the margins of 

 ponds and slow streams : the stem is 

 short, horizontal, and roots in the mud : 



116. Flowering-Rush. it sends up a number of long, narrow 

 leaves, and in summer a tall flowering- 

 stem (2 to 3 ft.), with a single, terminal umbel of large rose- 

 flowers. 



