430 THE ALISMA FAMILY. [Sagittaria. 
long, sagittate; the lobes of the base nearly as long as the terminal one, 
all pointed, but varying much in width. Flower-stem leafless, erect, 
longer than the leaves, bearing in its upper part several distant whorls of 
rather large, white flowers ; the 3 inner segments of the perianth twice as 
long as the 3 outer green ones; the upper flowers. usually males, on pedicels 
4 to 1 inch long ; ; the lower ones females, on shorter pedicels. . 
In watery ditchés, and shallow ponds and streams, dispersed’ over the 
ereater part of’ Europe and’ temperate ‘Asia, to the Arctic regions.’ In 
Britain, limited to England and Ireland, naturalized in a 3 Fil. .sum- 
mer and autumn. 
III. ALISMA. ALISMA. 
Aquatic herbs, erect or rarely floating, with radical, long-stalked leaves ; 
the flowers either in a terminal umbel, with or without whorls of pedicel- 
late flowers below it, or in a panicle with whorled branches each bearing 
a similar umbel. Perianth of 3 outer, small, herbaceous segments, and 
3 much larger inner ones, petal-like, and very delicate. Stamens 6. 
Carpels numerous, small, and 1- seeded, either arranged in a ring» round 
the axis, or irregularly in a globular head, 
A genus now known to comprise a considerable number of species, 
chiefly American, but some of them: distributed over nearly the wnole 
world. 
Flowers numerous, in a loose panicle. Carpels oman ring , 
round the axis of the flower . - 1. A. Plantago, » 
Flowers few, in a single umbel. Carpels irregularly arranged 
in a globular head. 
Stems erect or creeping. Carpels with 4 or 5- prominers 
ribs + 2, A. ranunculoides. 
Stems floating. Carpels with 12 to 15 slender ribs - . 3 A. natans. 
1, A. Plantago, Linn. (fig. 969). Common Alisma, Water Plantain. 
—Rootstock perennial, becoming almost bulbous by the thickened sheath- 
ing bases of the leafstalks, Leaves radical, varying from ovate to narrow- 
lanceolate. Flower-stem 1 to 3 feet high, with whorled branches, unequal 
in length, forming a loose, pyramidal panicle. . Flowers rather small, of a 
pale rose-colour, on long whorled pedicels. Fruit of 20 to 30 carpels, 
arranged in a single ring “round a broad, flat, central axis. 
In watery ditches, ponds, and edges of streams; common in Europe, 
temperate Asia, and North America, extending to the Arctic regions, and 
reappearing in Australia. Abundant in Britain. 7. all summer, 
2. A. ranunculoides, Linn. (fig. 970). Lesser Alisma,—tThe leaves 
and peduncles form annual tufts, but will occasionally emit runners fora 
succeeding year. Leaves narrow-lanceolate, or sometimes seduced to a 
linear leafstalk. Flower-stems,in the ordinary state, simple, with a single 
terminal umbel, or rarely a second. whorl below it. Flowers larger than 
in A, Plantago, sometimes near an inch diameter. Carpels irregularly 
arranged in a globular head in the centre of the flower, 
In wet ditches, bogs and marshes, over the greater part of Europe, but 
rare in the east. In Britain, as widely dispersed.as 4. Plantago, but not 
near so frequent. 7. summer and autumn. In’a variety (A. repens, 
Davies) the flowering-stem bends: down, and forms roots and leafy tufts at 
each whorl of flowers. 
3. 4. natans, Linn, (fig. 971). Floating dhnhontagias slender, 
