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Aquatic litt 



Aquatic 3Ufe 



A monthly magazine devoted to the study, 

 care and breeding of native, tropical, gold and 

 fancy fishes, other animals and plants in the 

 household aquarium. 



W. A. POYSER Editor 



JOSEPH E. BAUSMAN .... Publisher 

 542 E. Girard Avenue, Philadelphia 



Entered as second-class matter September 2d, 

 1915, at the Postoffice, Philadelphia, Pa., under 

 Act of March 3d, 1879 



Yearly Subscription $1.00 



Foreign Subscriptions 1-35 



Single Copy 10 cents 



Payments may be made by express money or- 

 der, draft, postoffice order or registered letter. 

 Foreign remittances should be by international 

 money order. 



Advertising rates made known on application. 

 Aquatic Life is the only magazine in America 

 devoted exclusively to aquatic life, and its 

 value as an advertising medium in this field of 

 nature study is unequaled. 

 Patrons will confer a favor by sending us the 

 names of responsible Pet Stock Stores who 

 do not keep Aquatic Life on sale. 



Copyright, 1916, by Joseph E. Bailsman. 



Vol. 2 October, 1916 No. 2 



tank. It can be readily distinguished by 

 its bright green leaves, which are equal 

 in breadth throughout their length, and 

 biunt-pointed. Sagittaria is darker and 

 thicker, the leaves somewhat pointed, 

 and, though it is related, the flowers bear 

 little or no resemblance to those of Vallis- 

 neria. 



The sexual reproduction of Vallisneria 

 is quite remarkable. Almost invariably 

 submerged plants raise their flowers 

 above water. When pollen-grains ( the 

 male element) come into contact with the 

 water, with a few exceptions (as in Cera- 

 tophyllum and Zostera), they absorb so 

 much as to cause them to burst, or to 

 occasion the escape of their contents from 

 one of their pores so quickly that they 

 perish. Vallisneria overcomes the con- 

 tingency in an interesting manner. This 

 species is dioecious, that is, the sexes 

 are separate, a plant being either male 



or female. The male flowers are seated 

 on very short pedicels or stems at the 

 base of the leaves ; the female flowers, on 

 the contrary, on very long stems, which 

 at a particular time become greatly elon- 

 gated and raise the flowers to the surface 

 of the water. The male flowers then 

 become detached from their pedicels, rise 

 to the surface, are floated among the 

 female flowers, and fertilize them. After 

 this has been accomplished the pedicel 

 of the female flowers coils up spirally, 

 and the fruit ripens beneath the water. 



Three forms of Vallisneria are recog- 

 nized. The most desirable is that known 

 as "Dwarf Italian." The leaves may 

 reach a length of eighten inches. A hor- 

 ticuultural variety, Gigantea, has a leaf 



Cells from leaf of Vallisneria spiralis (greatly 



enlarged) showing chloroplasts — the 



Green coloring matter 



half an inch broad, with a miximum 

 length of about three feet, but it is re- 

 ported to grow much longer. Both are 

 much to be preferred to the common wild 

 form. This latter, the typical species, in 

 its natural state dies down in winter, but 

 in the aquarium will grow throughout the 

 year. It is widely distributed throughout 

 the world. 



Vallisneria spiralis, there is but one 

 species in the genus, was first described 

 and named by Linnaeus in his "Species 

 Plantarum," published in 1753. The 

 name was conferred in honor of Antonio 

 Yallisneri, an Italian botanist : spiralis 

 refers to the habit of the stem of the 

 female flower. 



The ieaf -cells of Vallisneria are favor- 

 ite objects among microscopists to illus- 

 trate the circulation of the protoplasm 

 (life-fluid), and the chloroplasts which 

 function in food-making. 



