CRASSULACE^E ORPINE FAMILY 



Tillcea Vaillantii, Willd. 



Greenish-white Pigmy Weed 



July-September 



Tillcea: named after Michel Angelo Tilli, an Italian 



botanist. 

 Vaillantii: named for Sebastian Vaillant, a French botanist. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: sandy shores of fresh water 

 ponds, or in the water. 



THE PLANT: erect or nearly so; one half inch to three 

 inches high; the stem usually simple, hairless. 



THE LEAVES: opposite, linear-oblong; very short; united 

 at the base; entire. 



THE FLOWERS: very small, axillary; petals, stamens, and 

 pistils, three to four. 



THE FRUIT: a follicle. 



The Tillcea is a dainty and minute, aquatic plant, with 

 opposite, entire, thin leaves, and tiny, greenish-white 

 flowers, somewhat tubular in shape, with five sepals. 

 The flowers are on slender stems, which are about as 

 short as the leaves. 



This plant, though so tiny, and evidently inconspicuous, 

 has caused considerable commotion among scientists and 

 many have sought it but few have found it. Its range 

 as given in Gray's Botany is " Prince Edward's Island, 

 Nan tucket, Europe, and northern Africa." The interesting 

 question is whether the Nan tucket plant is really the typical 

 species or an aquatic form. The somewhat doubtful evi- 

 dence for the theory of there being an aquatic form may 



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