CHAPTER XIII 



AQUATICS 



There is something especially fascinating about plants that 

 grow in the water. They are generally odd and striking. They 

 are perhaps just out of reach, and if you cannot hire a barefooted 

 boy, you must get a row-boat in order to secure the treasures. 

 They look so cool and clean, and rest so quietly upon the lake's 

 placid surface! The bright colors of the flowers mingle har- 

 moniously with their large, undivided, or else finely cut, seaweed- 

 like leaves — for our aquatic foliage is apt to run to one of these 

 extremes. 



We have not many aquatics. Sometimes swamp plants be- 

 come aquatic, and those which generally live in water may be- 

 come stranded and rooted on muddy banks. 



Bur-reed (Sparganium simplex). Page 38. 



(S. eurycarpum) . Page 40. 



(5. minimum). Page 40. 



Tape Grass. Eel Grass (Valisneria spiralis). Family, Frog's- 

 bit. The ribbon-like leaves grow 6 feet long, wholly sub- 

 merged or floating at the ends. Staminate flowers break off 

 and float on surface. Pistillate flowers grow on long stems, 

 until they reach the surface. After pollination they coil 

 spirally, contracting, and ripen their fruit under water. Com- 

 mon and well known along our shores. 



Golden Club (Orontium aquaticum). Page 147. 



Duckweed {Spirodela polyrhiza). Page 22. 



Ivy-leaved Duckweed (Lemna Irisulca). Page. 22. 



Pipewort (Eriocaulon articulatum) . Page 42. 



Green Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginicd). Page 21. 



Pickerel- weed (Pondeteria cor data). Page 299. 



Mud Plantain (Heteranthera reniformis). Page 44. 



Water Star-grass (H. dubia). Page 149. 



Yellow Pond Lily (Nymphaea advena). Page 162. 



(A/, micro phylla) . Page 163. 



Water Nymph. Water Lily (Castalia odorata). Page 68. 



Sacred Bean (Nelumbo lutea). Page 163. 



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