AQUATIC PLANTS OF FRESHWATER 



Columbia and North Carolina. It is a 

 submerged creeping plant which developes 

 rootlets on the lower part of the weak and 

 flexible stems, having the bright-green 

 submerged leaves opposite in pairs, finely 

 dissected and fanlike in appearance, with 

 small entire oblong-linear emersed leaves 

 which appear when the plant blossoms. 

 The small flowers are white with two 

 yellow spots at the base of each of the 4 to 

 6 petals and with 4 to 6 stamens and 3 or 

 4 persistent sepals. The fruit is enclosed 

 in a prickly pod with one seed in each 

 cavity. 



Cambomba rostefolia (Hort.) or Red- 

 .Stalked Watershield is a species similar to 

 C. caroliniana but of a darker green color 

 on the upper surface of the submerged 

 leaves and the under surface a delicate 

 pinkish-red. The stems are purplish-red 

 and the flowers yellow with white stamens. 

 It is a beautiful aquariuni plant which re- 

 tains its fine colors only in plentiful direct 

 sunlight, and is not as hardy as the first- 

 named species, thriving best when set into 

 soil covered with pebbles. 

 Cabomba aquatica (Aubl.) or Tropical Watershield is a native tropical 

 American species which has been introduced into the United States. It 

 is of pale yellowish-green color, delicate and of handsome growth, as the 

 fanshaped leaves are fuller and more spread and the joints closer to each 

 other than in the other species. The floating floral leaves are nearly 

 orbicular and the flowers yellow with pink stamens. 



In the aquarium Cabomba- will sometimes root but thrives as well 

 when the stems are cleared of leaves a little distance at the ends and set 

 into the sand or pebbles. Propagation is usually by pinching off pieces 

 which will soon grow to considerable length, as at the joints along the 

 stem rootlets will be projected which floating in the water sustain the 

 plant. All the Cabombas are excellent oxygenators, and thrive in the 

 household aquarium. They are offered by dealers bound in bundles with 

 block-tin fastenings which serve as a weight to retain the plant in a natural 

 upright position in the water, but it is advisable to separate them, planting 



FIG. 113. Fanwort, Cabomba caroliniana^ 

 Horal leaves, blossoms and fruit. 

 Reduced one-third. 



