60 PLANTS FOR THE 



found in most of our large ponds. It has elegant leaves 

 of tlie form of barbed arrows and of the glossiest green 

 color, the ilowers rising in pyramidal form from the water 

 and borne upon stout, (luted stems. The Ilowers are three- 

 pctalled, white, with a flush of violet towards the centre, 

 from which rises a granulated boss of green, that adds 

 much to the beauty of the flower by the contrast of the 

 tint to that of the petals. — This plant is extensively cul- 

 tivated among the Chinese, not for its beauty, but for 

 the sake of the bulbous root, which fixes itself in the 

 solid earth below the mud and constitutes an article of 

 food. The bulb, among the Chinese, seems to grow to a 

 larger sizo than with us ; but it could readily be made 

 available, if some enterprising market gardener were to 

 attempt the growth of this succulent root. The sizo might 

 easily be increased as many of our garden herbs have been 

 by cultivation ; and then again, the arrowhead will flourish 

 in damp situations where other useful plants do not grow. 



Arum (Calla palustris) is another plaut which grows well 

 in the Aquarium according to Mr. Noel Humphreys, 

 though I have not tried it myself. It is, I should judge, 

 rather too large, and, together with the next mentioned, 

 more suited for very large tanks than for the small lakes 

 we place as ornaments in our parlors. The leaves of the 

 arum resemble in form those of the sagittaria, but the 

 flower is trumpet formed, with a yellow pistil, the petal 

 being violet-striped, with one side of the lip falling grace- 

 fully over. 



TriE Water-lilies (Nymp/uvacca), of which there are 

 three — one white (PI. II., Fig. 3), and two yellow. They 



