116 ON SEEDLINGS 



peltate and aerial leaves, exhibited by Nelumbium ; and lastly, 

 the finely-divided submerged leaves of Cabomba, which are 

 palmately cut up into slender thread-like segments, resembling 

 those of some forms of Eanunculus aquatilis. The floating 

 leaves of Cabomba are peltate and orbicular. 



The stages of the advancing seedling from the juvenile to 

 the adult state, with regard to the leaves, may be readily 

 examined in Nymphaea, Victoria, or Euryale. The seedling of 

 Nymphsea Lotus, var. thermalis, in germination throws down 

 a long root (primary root) into the soil or mud, while the 

 first internode of the plumule grows a little and gives off the 

 first leaf, which is short, slender, and filiform. The first leaf 

 in other species is often longer than in this case. The second, 

 third, and fourth leaves are oblong, lanceolate, obtuse, and 

 all submerged in the water where the seedlings germinated. 

 The ultimate leaves are peltate, orbicular, wavy at the margin, 

 but the basal sinus is open, or at least not connate. 



The primary leaves of Victoria and Euryale are even more 

 varied, and, like those of Nymphsea, are produced in a rosette. 

 The first internode in both these genera is more elongated 

 than hi the Nymphaea described, while the succeeding ones 

 are undeveloped. From the base of this rosette, strong, 

 adventitious roots are developed, which soon supplant the 

 primary root. The first leaf of Victoria is filiform and slender, 

 without a spreading blade ; the second is narrowly oblong and 

 petiolate ; the third is hastate, petiolate, with a long, slender 

 point ; and the fourth is oval in outline, peltate, with the basal 

 sinus partly connate, and furnished with a petiole capable of 

 elongating to 18 or 24 inches or even more, according to the 

 depth of the water in which the seedlings have germinated. 



The seedling of Euryale ferox behaves in exactly the same 

 way as that of Victoria, but the second and third leaves 

 are rather stronger and broader. The whole seedling is 

 larger, due no doubt to the larger seed and greater amount of 

 reserve food-material at its command. The fourth leaf in 

 both cases is a floating one and marks a great advance in the 

 development of the plant. The three primary ones are always 

 submerged, at least when the water is deep enough, and 

 probably indicate the ancestral forms through which the 



