ALISMACE^E. 



301 



4. Hypoxys. Perianth persistent, 6-parted, spreading. Stamens 

 6. Capsule crowned with the withered perianth, narrowed at base. 

 Seeds roundish. 



H. ERECTA (Star-grass}. Hairy, acaulescent ; scape i-4-flowered ; 

 leaves linear, grassy, longer than the scape ; flowers in a sort of umbel, each 

 with a minute bract at base ; segments hairy, yellow within, greenish with- 

 out. In meadows and grassy fields, 3'-6' high. June- July. 



INFERIOR ENDOGENS. 

 Order LXXXIL ALISMACE^E ( Water-Plantain Family). 



Marsh herbs, acaulescent. Leaves parallel-veined, but often 

 with reticulated veinlets, sometimes linear and fleshy. Flowers 

 regular, perfect, or monoecious, usually in racemes or panicles. 

 Perianth of 6 sepals, in 2 series. Sepals herbaceous. Petals 

 often colored, sometimes similar to the calyx. Stamens definite 

 or indefinite. Carpels 3 or more, i-celled, i-seecled. Styles and 

 stigmas as many as the carpels. 



f Leaves rush-like Triglochin. 



ALISMACE*. f Flowers perfect-^,. 



[ Leaves with blades \ 



\_ Flowers imperfect Sagittaria. 



1. Alisma. Flowers perfect. Stamens 6. Ovaries numerous, 

 arranged in a circle. Achenia compressed, coriaceous. 



A. PLANTAGO (Water Plantain). Leaves oval or ovate, varying to ob- 

 long, or even lanceolate, acuminate, on long petioles, 3~9-nerved ; flowers 

 in a loose panicle ; petals small, deciduous, white, with a purplish tinge, 

 longer than the green sepals. In wet grounds, 1-2 feet high. July-Au- 

 gust. 



2. Sagittaria. Flowers monoecious, rarely dioecious. Stamens 

 numerous. Ovaries many, aggregated in a spherical head, and form- 

 ing in fruit a globose head of compressed, winged achenia. n 



S. VARIABILIS (Arrowhead). Scape simple, sheathed at base by the 

 petioles, acaulescent ; flowers in verticils of 3 ; sterile ones at the summit of 

 the scape, fertile ones below ; petals white ; leaves extremely variable, gen- 

 erally triangular with sagittate lobes, varying from very broad to very nar- 

 row. In other forms, the leaves are oval or oblong, with thick, spongy peti- 

 oles. Again, the leaves are linear, and the scape and petioles very slender. 

 Common in wet grounds. June- July. 



3. Triglochin. Sepals and petals concave, greenish, deciduous. 

 Stamens 6. Filaments very short. Anthers large, oval. Pistils a com- 



