60 



FEESH-WATEE AQUAEIA. 



The Vallisneria comes from the South of Europe, and is 

 named in honour of an Italian botanist, Antonio Vallisneri. 

 This weed is dioecious, that is, its female flowers grow on one 

 indi-vddual plant (Fig. 43), and its male flowers on another (Fig. 

 44). The female flowers are borne at the end of long spiral 



Fig. *3. Italian Waier-weed, Vallisneria spiralis (Female Plant). 



stalts, giving to the plant its specific name. These stalks, 

 which increase in length very rapidly, are able to adapt them- 

 selves to the depth of the water in which they are growing, 

 so that their flowers can readily reach its surface. The male 

 flowers are produced at the base of their own plants, and after 



