LETTER XLVII. 



THE WATER PLANTAIN TRIBE THE WATER LILY 



TRIBE. 



Plate XLIX. 



I HAVE now almost finished all the details about 

 which I propose to occupy you, and so far as syste- 

 matic Botany is concerned, I see no great object in 

 pursuing the subject further. Indeed, to extend our 

 correspondence much, would change the aim with 

 which it was commenced ; and you would be studying 

 a long dissertation upon the Natural System of classi- 

 fication, instead of an introductory account of its 

 elements. 



There are, however, two natural orders of aquatic 

 plants, both of which are common in this country, and 

 about which a few remarks may be made with some 

 advantage to you. The first is the Water Plan- 

 tain Tribe, the other the Water Lily Tribe. 



The Water Plantain (Alisma Plantago), and the 

 ^rrozi?-Aeac^(Sagittariasagittifolia), are two herbaceous 

 plants, inhabiting the sides of ditches and ponds all 

 over England. In most respects they are alike in 

 the structure of their parts of fructification, differing 

 principally in the latter having more stamens than the 

 former, and these organs in different flowers from 



