Elatine. KLATIN'ACK.K. 281 



valves alternate with the disseiiimeiits ; and oliiong straiglit or curved fce«-d8, the 

 crustaceous testa Jilh-d or nearly so by the cylindraceous embryo ; the cotyledons 

 short and thick. Only two genera. 



1. ELATINE. Flowers 2-4-iiiit()Uh. S.-pals iiicinl.raiiaieolierlMUwiUH, obtu*e. without 

 midrib. Capsule globusc, iiiembraiiace.m.s. Mostly a.juatic aiitiualM or sub-pereiiuiab., 

 glabrous. 



2. BERGIA. Flowers S-merous. Sipals iHjiiited or acute, with thirki-mvl mi<lrib and 

 scarious niargius. Capsule ovoid, of lirni texture. Terrestrial, (mjiiib hufTnitfiMont, u*ually 



l)uln'steiit. 



1. ELATlNE, L. Watkkwokt. (OM (^-.-ik and Latin name for Home 

 herb, from iXdrt], a lir-tree, absurdly applied by J.inna-us to this j,'»-nuH because a 

 whorled-leaved species had been named Po(uniopi(fit/s. i. e. Kiver Pine.) — Afjuatic 

 and subaciuatic annuals or sub-perennials by rooting from the nodes ; ours all 

 depressed little plants, an inch or two high, mostly creeping by rooting from the 

 nodes, occurring both in aquatic and terrestrial forms ; with small fhtwers in the 

 axils of the entire leaves, when under water not rarely fertilized without oi>eriihg; 

 fl. summer. — Gen. no. 335; Seubert, Monogr. in Nov. Act. Nat. Cur. xxi. 3H ; 

 Benth. & Hook. Gen. i. 162 ; Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. xiii. 301. 



§ 1. CRi'PTA, Seubert, I.e. Flowers 2-3-merous, 2-3-androu8 : thin capsule 

 often bursting irregularly, the delicate portions evanescent or fragile; seeds 

 slightly curved : leaves simply opposite, in ours se.ssile or sid>sessile and the 

 flowers sessile. — Crypta, Nutt. Jour. Acad. Philad. i. 117 (§ Cnjjita, Grav, 

 Gen. 111. i. 220), answers to this section more extended. 



E. triandra, Schk. Leaves oblanceolate or nearly lanceolate with frradually tapering Ijaw: 

 petals and stamens commonly 3, but sepals often only 2: seeds ascending over tlic whole 

 thickened axis of the capsule, more .slender than those of tlie foUowing. — liamlb. i. Mb, t. 

 109^ f. 2; Seubert, 1. c. t. 2, f. 1-8; Gray, Troc. Am. Acad. xiii. 361, 362. — I'onds, Illinuiii 

 and Nebraska, E. Hall; Yellowstone Lake, Tweedy. Rare iu Amer., widely distributed in 

 Old World. 



E. Americana, Arn. Leaves obovate, very obtuse (1 to 3 lines long) : flowers 2 meroiui 

 or occasionally G-merons throughout, in aquatic form rarely opening and the ovules an<i 

 seeds mainly basilar, in terre.strial form flowers expanding and witli larg.r rosentdorcd 

 petals, the seeds more axile ; these cylindraceous, a tliird line long, slightly curved, clathrati«- 

 sculptured with 9 or 10 longitudinal lines and 20 to .30 cros»-l)ars. — Kdinlt. Jour. X.it. &. 

 Geogr. Sci. i. 431 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 203 ; Gray. Gen. III. i. 220, t. 9.5, & Proc. Am. Arnd. 

 1. c. E. minima, Fisch. & Mey. Linnaea. x. 73; Seubert, 1. c. t. 2. f. 9. 10. E. Clintoniana, 

 Peck, Rep. Reg. Univ. N. Y. xxii. .')2. terrestrial form. P>i>lis Aiiiericuna, I'ursh. Fl. i. 2.38. 

 Cryptn minima, Nutt. Jour. Acad. Philad. i. 117. t. 6. f. 1, & Gen. App.; T-rr. Fl. N. & 

 Midd. States, i. 32. ? Lei>lrln<i antumnnlis, Haf. Jour. Phys. Ixxxix. 96 (|s|'.t). — In mud 

 and shallow water, New England > to Virginia and Hrit. Columbia, along the Kooky Moun- 

 tains to Colorado and the Sierra Nev.ida to S. California. (Mex., Austral.. K. Ind.. &c.) 



E. brachysperma, Gn.w. Leaves oblong or oval with narrowed b.-uie : flowen* mostly 

 2-ni(Tons: s.'fds short-oblong, straightish. barely (piarter line long. s<ulpture<l in 6 or 7 

 longitn.linal lines with 10 or 12 cross-bars. — Proc. Am. Acad. I c. ; \V.-»L-.. Hot. Calif, 

 ii. 436. — Illinois an.! Tcxjis. I/<ilt, IhU,, &c., to Ari/.ona, l.imvum, and coaj«t ■' of Califoniia, 

 Anderson, Orcutt : chiefly terrcjitrial. 



J Also northward into Brit. Amrrica from Tadousar. Dr. G. (1. K<nnt,ly, ami Hull. Qurl»c. 

 Macoun, to Vancniivrr Isl.. Marnun. 



2 Also on pliiin- in ilu- intpriorof the state, ace. to C.rccnc, Kl. Francis. IM. Add mh. .b«ii.7*f. ii«i 

 brachyspermum, Greene, Man. Hay-Reg. 62. 



