XVIIL ALISMACE^. 



801 



Damasonivm califomicum. 

 Flower. 



SagiUaria sagittc^olia. Inflorescence. 



Samasonium 



basilar and erect, tlie others horizontal. Eipe caepelb indehiscent, or dehiscent by 

 their ventral suture. Seeds recurYed, exalbuminons ; testa membranous. Embeto 

 hooked, sub-cylindric ; radicle inferior or centripetal. 



*Alisma, 



PEINCIPAL GENEEA. 

 * Sagittaria, 



Damasonium, 



AUsmacecB have by a great many botanists been united with Juncaginea, ■which only differ in their 

 always extrorse anthers, anatropous OTules, and straight embryo; Alismacece are also connected on 

 the other hand with Butomets, which are separated by their placentation and the number of their ovules. 



They are found, though not abundantly, in the temperate and tropical regions of both worlds. 

 Alisma grows in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere and the tropics of the New World. 

 SagiUaria inhabits the same countries, but is rarer in the tropics. Damasonium inhabits certain parts of 

 Europe, North Africa, North-west United States, and East Australia. 



Most Alismaoets possess an aCrid juice, which led formerly to their use in medicine. The Water 

 Plantain (Aluma Plantago) and Sagittaria sagittcefolia have been prescribed, but without good reason, 

 for hydrophobia ; the feculent rhizomes of the latter lose their acridity by desiccation, and serve as food to 

 the Tartar Kalmucks ; the same is the case with S. sinensis, cultivated in China, ,an,d S. obtusifolia, 

 of North America. 



3f 



