34 PLANTS GROWING IN WATER. 
The plant is a native of Brazil, and it is thought that it wasin | 
about 18go that it wasintroduced into Florida. It had been for- 
merly cultivated in northern greenhouses, as it had the potent 
charm of beauty. So congenial to its tastes did it find the sunny 
shores of the St. Johns River and the yellowish water that 
abounds in humid acid and organic matter that it soon laid aside 
all the customs of a guest, and determined upon dabbling in the 
political economy and affairs of the country. In streams where 
sulphur or other distasteful acids are prevalent it is not able to 
survive. 
In 1896 the War Department at Washington was asked to ex- 
ert its influence with this unruly plant, which was becoming a 
serious menace to navigation. It has also destroyed bridges, 
interfered with the timber industry, and affected the health of 
the region by upholding objectionable organic matter. Great 
floating masses of the water-hyacinth are moored to the shore 
by those that have rooted in the shallow water. But at times 
the wind tears them loose and then large blocks of it go float- 
ing about with the current. At one time a strong wind drove 
it northward until it closed the river for twenty-five miles. 
The plant reproduces itself by stolens or leafy shoots and in 
such numbers that itsincrease is most alarming. The problem 
of controlling the water-hyacinth is very interesting. Mechani- 
cal means entail such great and continuous expense that it is 
thought a natural enemy to breed disease amongst it will have 
to be introduced. 
COMMON BLADDERWORT. (Pilate VIZ.) 
Utricularia vulgarés. 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Bladderwort. Yellow. Scentless. General. All summer. 
Flowers: several growing on each scape. Calyx: labiate or two-lipped 
Corolla: \abiate, the spur shorter than the lower lip. Stamens: two, with 
anthers that meet in the throat. P/s#//: one; stigma two-lipped. Leaves: un- 
der water, many-parted, bearing rather large bladders. Stem:immersed. ~ 
This aquatic herb, which we find in still, slow water, is hardly 
one to inspire us with affection. It belongs to the strange 

