266 Minnesota Plant Life. 



times several feet in length, and it creeps at the bottom of the 

 pond as a slender rootstock. In the flower there are from 

 twelve to twenty stamens and from four to eighteen carpels, 

 separate from each other, forming in the fruit a cluster of one 

 or two-seeded nuts. 



Pond-lilies. The pond-lilies may be known by their broadly 

 arrow-shaped leaves with rounded bases, their yellow flowers, 

 and their fruits, consisting of a number of carpels united to- 

 gether in a compound body. There are two varieties in Min- 

 nesota : the common yellow pond-lily, abundant throughout the 

 state, and the small yellow pond-lily, of which the flowers are 

 less than an inch in diameter when open. The latter species 

 is limited to the northern district between Duluth and Lake of 

 the Woods. The pond-lilies have thick cylindrical rootstocks, 

 which show conspicuous scars where the leaves break off. In 

 the large pond-lily there are sometimes submerged leaves which 

 are thin and almost circular in shape. These submerged leaves 

 are always present in the smaller pond-lily. 



Water-lilies. The water-lilies, of which three species occur 

 in the state, may be recognized by their white flowers, rounder 

 leaves and almost globular fruit. The form known as the tuber- 

 bearing lily is probably more common than the sweet-scented 

 lily, though both are found growing side by side in the same 

 ponds. In the tuber-bearing lily the rootstock is thick, with an 

 abundant production of short lateral branches that readily sep- 

 arate and serve to propagate the plant. In the sweet-scented 

 lily the rootstock is thick and but sparingly branched. Fur- 

 thermore, the flowers of the sweet-scented lily are very fragrant, 

 while those of the tuber-bearing lily are either scentless or but 

 slightly fragrant. These two varieties are the abundant ones. 

 In a few lakes along the international boundary may be found 

 the small white water-lily, with its flowers scentless and scarcely 

 two inches wide. In this variety the petals are generally in 

 but two rows instead of being disposed in numerous whorls as 

 in the common forms. The leaves are considerably smaller 

 but of the same general shape. 



The great pale rootstocks of the water-lilies and pond-lilies 

 are often torn up by the ice and cast ashore in early spring. 



