56 On the Marsilee of North America. 
densely coated with long hairlike palee. The description of 
Hooker and Greville, mentions only one tooth on the fruit, but 
their figure shows both. 
Marsilea mucronata is nearly related to the Oregon species, 
but is sufficiently distinguished by the nakedness of the whole 
plant, and especially by the shape of the capsule. ‘The rhizoma 
is elongated, and has not the fascicled branches of the following ; 
the petioles are 2 to 3 inches long; and the spathulate or slightly 
fanshaped leaflets are 3 to 4 lines long. It was collected by Mr. 
Charles Geyer, in Nicollet’s Northwestern expedition, July 24th, 
1839, in small exsiccated swamps near Devil’s Lake, in the Sioux 
territory, between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. It is men- 
tioned by Prof. Torrey in the Catalogue of Nicollet’s collections 
(appendix, p. 165) as M. vestita. In several European herbaria 
it is preserved under the name “ M. quadrifolia, Herb. Ward ;” 
from where derived is to me unknown. 9 
M. uncinata was discovered by Dr. Engelmann, in July, 1835, 
on the margin of small swamps in the deep bottom woods on 
the Arkansas river, not far below Little Rock, with Azolla caro- 
liniana, etc., and was first described in “Flora, or Botanische 
Zeitung,” 1839, i, p. 300. It is a much larger plant than either 
of the others, nearly naked, with long petioles, (5 to 9 inches,) 
and fanshaped leaflets 6 to 10 lines long; the rhizoma prodnces 
many fascicled branchlets which are paleaceous at tip. The 
shape of the capsule and the large number of sori in it, readily 
distinguish it from the others—A. Br. 
Note.—I find a fourth species in the colléctions made by Mr. 
Lindheimer in Texas. (Fig. 4.) He met with it in January, 1845, 
in swampy soil on the lower Guadaloupe river, near its mouth in 
Matagorda Bay. It is widely distinct from the three others, 
in having long and branching stipes (10 to 14 lines long) bearing 
3 to 5 capsules, three or four times as long as these, and at the base 
connected with the petiole ; capsule obliquely obovate, with a short 
raphe, lower tooth blunt, upper one very indistinct ; stomata not 
observed on the paleaceous capsule; rhizoma nearly naked, only 
the ends of the branches paleaceous ; petioles 4 to 9 inches long, 
hairy ; leaflets triangular or fanshaped, entire, more or less cove 
by fine paleaceous hairs, 7 to 12 lines long. It is not improbable 
that this is the Marsilea polycarpa, Hook. and Grev., found 
throughout South America, and lately discovered by Dr. Schiede 
in Mexico; but having seen no description of it, I am unable to 
give more than this suggestion, based merely on the name. 
on further comparison the Texan species should prove to be dis-. 
tinct, the name of M. macropoda would appear to be most ap- 
propriate. Sterile specimens of a Marsilea occurring in Drum 
mond’s Texan collections, belong probably to the same species as 
Lindheimer’s plant.—G. E. 
