THE ISOETACE^E. 



HERE is doubtless no fam- 

 ily of plants so little 

 known to the botanists 

 of the regions in which 

 they grow as the Iso- 

 etaceae, or quillvvorts. 

 The flowers, fruits, and leaves of the flowering-plants 

 make them conspicuous ; the ferns, lacking flowers, are 

 still noticeable from the beauty of their fronds ; and even 

 the fern allies, with the present exception, may attract 

 attention by reason of their strange forms and curious 

 manner of growth ; but the quillworts, most of which 

 pass their whole existence beneath the waves of lake or 

 river, far removed from the other objects of the botan- 

 ist's pursuit, ordinarily escape observation, or, if seen, 

 are dismissed with the thought that they are immature 

 specimens of some sedge or rush. Even the botanists 

 themselves for a long time paid little attention to them, 

 usually referring such forms as were found to the single 



