50 THE GOLDFISH AND ITS CULTURE, 
Amazon), this, my seedling, is in leaf all the year round. 
During the summer it grows above the water, producing dark 
grecn, strong, glossy foliage, and in the axils of the leaves 
small yellow flowers. 
I feel that I should state here, that not I, but my kind cus- 
tomers named this plant for me. 
THE CUT-LEAVED MERMAID-WEED., 
(Proserpinaca pestinacea.) 
The finely cut, hair-like, soft leaves grow in. close-jointed 
whorls of five, alternately or spirally arranged on thin reddish 
but tenacious stems in deep water; it resembles green chenille, 
one inch in diameter. The brownish green color of this plant 
and the density of its growth makes it an excellent background 
for others in the collection. It is a native of Alabama, ever- 
green, and a good oxygenator. 
This plant, where native, is dreaded by bathers; often 
swimmers get their feet entangled in its stems and drown. 
This fact led to its name. The Roman goddess, Proserpina, 
wife of Pluto, who reigns in the lower region, was supposed 
to pull them down to have playmates, 
THE WATER MILL-FOIL. 
(Myriophylium spicatum.) 
This is a close relation to the preceding. The whorls of 
leaves are larger in diameter and arranged in an exact circle 
around the stem, the color being very dark green. Like the 
preceding it grows easily from cuttings, and is evergreen in the 
aquarium, It is a native in’the northern section of this country 
and Europe. The name has relation to its thousands of leaves. 
