98 Fresh Water Aquarium 



BOG OR SWAMP PLANTS. 



While the bog plants may not be of much 

 value for the small aquarium, they can be 

 used to great advantage in larger vessels if 

 provision is made for water of different 

 depths and for the soil necessary for their 

 cultivation. Some varieties are highly 

 decorative. The following are especially 

 adapted for the aquarium and therefore rec- 

 ommended for a trial : 



The Water Plantain (Alisma plant ago) is 

 quite common in our waters. While the 

 submerged leaves remain small and narrow, 

 those elevated above the surface on long, 

 slender stems are large, pointed ovals, with 

 an almost heart-shaped base and five to 

 seven plainly defined parallel nerves. The 

 root is perennial, bulbous and covered with 

 hairlike rootlets. The flower-shaft bears a 

 very loose pyramid of branches growing in 

 whorls around the main stem. The flowers, 

 which appear between July and August, have 



