WATER PLANTAIN FAMILY. Alismaceae. 



WATER PLANTAIN FAMILY. Alismacece. 



Marsh herbs with long-stemmed leaves, and flowers of 

 three orders, thus : 



1. With stamens and pistil, 2. Staminate and pistil- 

 late growing on one plant, 3. Staminate and pistillate 

 growing on different plants. The flowers have three 

 conspicuous petals and generally six stamens ; they are 

 visited by numerous insects which undoubtedly assist in 

 the process of fertilization. 



The leaves, all from the root, are olive 

 AUsma Phni^^^ green, strongly veined, and elhptical but 

 fayo very variable in shape, broader or longer. 



White or pale and sometimes heart-shaped at the base. 

 P'"**^ The flower-stem is tall and symmetrically 



^y- ep em- branched, displaying the three-petaled, 

 very small white or rarely delicate pink 

 flowers to great advantage. The flowers are perfect, 

 with six stamens and a pistil ; they are possibly self- fer- 

 tilized, but more probably cross-fertilized by the beelike 

 drone-flies {Syrphidce), all pollen-eaters and honey- 

 drinkers. The plant is 1-3 feet high, and is found in the 

 shallow water of ponds and sluggish streams every- 

 where. The name, wliich is of uncertain Greek origin, 

 is supposed to refer to the occurrence of the species in 

 salt marshes. 



. ^ This genus is reinarkable for its mani- 



Arrowhead n ^ ^ ■ ■ ■, ,, t 



Sagittaria vari-^^^^ variations; hence it IS called varia- 

 ahiiis hilis. SagittaHa is derived from the Latin 



^hite sagitta, an arrow, referring to the shape 



July-Septein= ^^ ^^^Q leaves. There are fourteen native 

 ber 



species recorded, by Britton and Brown, 



and over twentj^ by Jared G. Smith, while Gray recog- 

 nizes but seven. However, until botanists arrive at a 

 united opinion regarding this group, it will be a safe 

 and therefore preferable course to accept the fewer 

 species recognized by Gray. It is an unreliable method 

 of procedure to rely upon leaf character for the founda- 

 tion of a species, and unfortunately this has a great deal 

 to do with the separation of SagittaHa into many spe- 

 cies or groups. The particular species called variabilis 

 6 



