PLANTS GROWING IN WATER. 33 



from home and her playmate, the pickerel, to take a peep 

 through a serene lake border or a smooth stream which she has 

 enticed into upholding her in her naughtiness. She comes 

 with a troop of her companions, all gay, ragged and pert as she. 

 Many are allured to the lake border by her brightness, and she 

 would often be carried away to see more of the world but the 

 cool, calm water is her protector. Perhaps the upper world is 

 a disappointment to our young visitor : she lifts up her head for 

 only one day, then withers and dies. 



WATER STAR GRASS. 



Heteranthera dubia. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pickerel-weed. Pale yellow. Scentless. Mostly north. Summer. 



Flowers: perfect; solitary. Perianth: salver-shaped, of six equal divisions 

 that terminate in the tube. Stamens: three. Pistil: one. Leaves: sub- 

 merged; grass-like. Stem: two to three feet long ; branching; floating; and 

 rooted at the lower joints. 



When we notice these small, bright flowers as they come to 

 the surface of some stream, we are reminded of a little waif 

 that has strayed far from home. The plant is one that is 

 rather uncommon. 



WATER=HYACINTH. (Plate VII.) 



Pzardpiis crdssipes. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pickerel-weed. Pinkish blue. Scentless. Mostly in Florida. Summer. 



Flowers: growing in thick clusters on a flower stalk. Perianth: labiate ; 

 the upper lip three-lobed and beautifully marked with turquoise and sapphire 

 blue, having also a yellow spot in the centre. The lower lip three-lobed and 

 spreading. Stamens : six; the three lower ones in the throat; the three upper 

 ones shorter and imperfect. Pistil: one. Leaves : on petioles; roundish; tipped 

 with a little point and floating in a rosette one to two feet high on the surface 

 of the water. The base of the petiole swollen and filled with air, which 

 keeps the plant from sinking and aids it in resisting both wind and waves. 

 Roots : two feet long ; dense, bushy, attaching themselves to the ground where 

 the water is shallow, otherwise floating. 



Lining the shores of the St. Johns River and many of the 

 lakes and sluggish streams in Florida, the water-hyacinth may be 

 seen in masses varying from fifty to several hundred feet wide. 



