CHAPTER XXVI 



HYDROPTERIDEAE 



Marsiliaceae. 

 Salviniaceae. 



The unsatisfactory and meagre records in regard to the past 

 history of these heterosporous Filicales render superfluous more 

 than a brief reference to the recent species. 



Marsiliaceae. 



This family is usually spoken of as including the two genera 

 Marsilia and Pilularia. Lindman^ has however founded a 

 third genus, Regnellidium, on a Brazilian plant which is dis- 

 tinguished by some well-defined characters from all species of 

 Marsilia. The members of the Marsiliaceae live for the most 

 part in swampy situations. Marsilia is represented in Europe 

 by M. quadrifoliata L. which occurs in Portugal, France, 

 Germany and other parts of the Continent, extending also 

 to Kashmir, Northern China, and Japan. Of the other 53 

 species, 17 are recorded from different regions in Africa, while 

 others occur in South America, Asia^, Australia, and elsewhere. 



Pilularia globulifera L. is the only British representative 

 of the Hydropterideae. The remaining four species of the genus 

 occur in South America, California, NeAv Zealand, Australia, 

 and P. minuta Dur. is met with in the South of France, Algeria, 

 and Asia Minor in subtropical or warm temperate regions. 



The Marsiliaceae are regarded as more nearly related to the 



I Lindman (04J. " Baker (87) A. ; Sadebeok, in Engler and Prantl (02). 



