GREEN GROUP 



False Loosestrife 



Ludvigia sphaerocarpa. (Specific name from the round cap- 

 sule.) — Flowers, wanting corolla. Sepals, green. Stamens, 4. 

 Small, sessile, single flowers occur in the leaf axils. Leaves, nar- 

 row, long, acute at both ends, alternate, slightly rough. Runners 

 or shoots spring from the roots, covered thickly with small, broad 

 leaves. Stem, erect, 2 to 3 feet high, its bark below often becom- 

 ing thick and corky. 



Aquatic, or in wet swamps. Massachusetts to Florida. 



L. polycarpa. — This species differs from the last in having 

 minute petals and conspicuous bractlets underneath the flower. 

 The plant is from 1 to 3 feet high, with stout stem, and numerous 

 stolons. The alternate leaves are rough along the margins, 2 to 

 4 inches long. 



Swamps in Connecticut and Massachusetts, south to Ken- 

 tucky, and in Kansas. 



Water Milfoil 



Myriophyllum <verticillatum. — Family, Water Milfoil. Floral 

 leaves and flowers in whorls, the upper flowers staminate, the 

 lower pistillate. Petals, generally none. Sepals, green, or with 

 a purplish tinge. Stamens, 8. Leaves, cut and fine, like the teeth 

 of a comb. 



The plant is aquatic, and when the leaves arc taken from 

 the water they collapse. Such leaves are spoken of as 

 -flaccid. 



The flowers are inconspicuous, sessile, in the axils of the 

 leaves. The only acquaintance I have with this plant is 

 through a specimen sent me from a friend in southern New 

 Jersey. I placed my plant in a dish of water and kept it for 

 weeks. Its finely dissected leaves grew very fast and over- 

 lapped the edges of the dish. Greenish white blossoms ap- 

 peared in March. 



There are several members of this Family which grow in 

 ponds and shallow streams. They all have capillary leaves, 

 usually whorled on the stem. 



Mermaid Weed 

 Proserpinkca palustris. — Family, Water Milfoil. Calyx, tubu- 

 lar, 3-sided, its border 3-divided. Petals, none. Stamens and 

 stigmas, 3. A nut-like fruit with 3 seeds in as many cells, is ! • 

 Flowers, small, inconspicuous, 1 to 4, sessile, in the axils. / 



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