WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY 



509 



producing i — 3 flowers, enclosed in a meftibranous spathe, in a 

 marginal cleft ; stamens stalked, with 2-chaml)ered anthers. 

 (Name, the Greek name of the plant.) 



1. L. Irisi'ilca (Iv3'-leaved Duck-weed). — Fronds thin, pellucid, 

 1 — I in. long, budding at right angles, obovate-lanceolate, each 

 bearing i root. Bulbils are produced in autumn. — Stagnant 

 water ; frequent. — F\. June. Annual. 



2. L. minor (Lesser Duck-weed). — Fronds compressed, opaque, 

 paler beneath, not more than I in. long, obovate, blunt, each 

 bearing 1 root. — Stagnant water : often so abundant as to cover 

 the surface, where, with the insects which it harbours, it is greedily 

 devoured by ducks. — Fj. June — August. Annual. 



L. gibba (Gibbous Duck-weed). — Fronds flat above, hemi- 



spherical and spongy beneath, opaque, pale. 



long. 



obovate, blunt, each bearing i root.- - Stagna-nt water ; uncommon. 

 — Fl. June — September. Annual. 



LilM.VA .■\iiN''R {Lesser Djrcfi-'u.'ecJ). 



4. L. polvrrhiza (Greater I)uck-weed). — Froiids dark green 

 above, purple beneath, compressed, ^ — -^ in. long, broadly 

 obovate, each bearing many clustered roots.- — Ponds and ditches ; 

 not common. — Flower not known in Britain. Annual. 



2. WoLKFiA, represented by the one British specie.s, IF. arrlnza, 

 is the smallest known flowering plant, the rootless, flattish, sub- 

 globular fronds not being more than -V in. long. — Ponds near 

 London. The flower is not known in Britain. Annual. 



Orp. LXXXA'II. Alisjiace.e. — ^Vater-Plantain Family 



A small but widely distributed Order of aquatic plants, often 

 floating, with leaves chiefly radical, with long, sheathing stalks ; 

 flowers usually perfect ; perianth of 6 distinct leaves in 2 whorls, 

 the 3 inner, or all, coloured ; slanunjs 6, g, or more, hypogynous ; 



