2 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [juiy 



about the middle of July to the end of summer. The fruit, a 

 loculicidal two-celled capsule, dehisces violently, often throwing 

 the four seeds a distance of several decimeters. The seeds germi- 

 nate very soon after being shed, the seedlings reaching a height of 

 about 2 dm. by the end of the growing season. Branches formed 

 in the axils of the basal leaves, and at first growing upward, soon 

 curve, and grow downward to just below the surface of the water, 

 then take a nearly horizontal direction. These stolons, becoming 

 0.5-1 dm. long, send out adventitious roots at the nodes that pass 

 downward into the mud. 



At the end of the growing season, the vertical shoot dies down 

 to just below the usual level of the water, usually to the top of the 

 first node below the surface. The rest of the stem remains green 

 and apparently in good condition for some time, but gradually 

 rotting. The stolons, with their scalelike leaves, where exposed to 

 the light, remain green throughout the winter, as do also the upper 

 parts of the adventitious roots. In the spring, the terminal bud of 

 the stolon again starts its activity, turning upward, and sending 

 up a vertical shoot into the air. This shoot develops elongated 

 leaves, and rarely branches from near the base. The basal buds, 

 however, usually produce the rhizomes by means of which the plant 

 perennates. Buds formed in the axils of the upper leaves develop 

 into the capita te-spicate inflorescences of violet or nearly white 



flowers. 



the 



Instead of growing in the water, it grows in the sand just above the 

 level of high tide ; the rhizomes grow about on the level of the top of 

 the moist sand, the lower one to three internodes of the aerial shoot 

 being buried in dry sand. The basal branches grow upward a few 

 centimeters, turn down, and then become horizontal, growing along 

 the top of the moist sand at a depth of 5-10 cm. below the surface. 

 The basal part of the erect shoots and also the rhizomes, there- 

 fore, are without chlorophyll. Although many discharged capsules 

 were seen, I could find no trace of seedlings, so I cannot say that 

 the life-history here is the same as at Chain Bridge, but from the 

 time of flowering and of the ripening of the seeds, and from 

 the general habit of the plants, I see no reason for believing that 

 there are any marked differences in the general life-historv. 



