AQUATIC PLANTS. 



139 



eighteen inches deep. Seeds grow freelj^, and soon 

 produce a large stock. A strong tuher planted in an 

 inverted bell-glass produces a delightful result in the 

 green-house. Mice are said to devour the roots, hut 

 this is not a common trouble. It appears to grow 

 well in any soil. It is figured in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, Vol. YIII., X.S., p. 649, and in Paxton's 

 Floiver Garden. 



Another species recently cultivated is A. spatha- 

 ccum, \?ix. junceion, which is figured in the Botanical 

 Magazine, t. 6399. It is much less showy, and is 

 said to grow among grass. Figured also in the 

 ''English Flower Garden." Xaiadacecc. 



Butomus umbellatus (the Flowering Rush). — A select 

 water or marsh plant, commonly found in England, 

 and quite worthy of introducing to the garden. It 

 has three-cornered leaves, three or four feet high, and 

 the round flower-steiii bears an umbel of many 

 reddish or rose flowers. A position open to the full 

 sun is best, and it generally grows in a few inches of 

 water. Europe and some parts of Asia. Flowers in 

 June and July. Alisniaccce. 



Calla palustris (Bog-arum). — An extremely pretty 

 plant, with creeping stems, roundly heart-shaped 

 leaves, and many white spathes, much like those of 

 the Arum Lily, but smaller. It likes to be planted 

 at the level of the water, when the stems spread in all 

 directions, extending on the water, and creeping up 

 the bank upon which it grows. The white spathes 

 are very bright-looking among foliage, and the plant 

 is an excellent one for clothing ground. As the genus 

 is now constituted this is the only species. The plant, 

 cultivated as Calla occulta, is a form of FeUandra 

 virginica. Flowers in summer. Native of Europe, 

 Siberia, and North America. Aroidecc. A small cut 

 is given in the " English Flower Garden." 



Comarum paliistrc =z Potentilla Comarum. 



Hottonia palustris (the Water-violet). — A lovely 

 British plant, growing in ponds and ditches, which 

 it enlivens during May and June by the most 

 attractive display of lilac flowers, each with a yellow 

 eye. The leaves are whorled, divided into narrow 

 segments, and the appearance of the flower-stem 

 rising above the water, with successive whorls of 

 flowers, reminds one of Primnla Japonica. It is 

 always submerged, and sometimes grows from a con- 

 siderable depth, producing candelabra-like branches 

 of the most graceful leaves from below the flower- 

 stems. Tt is found through most of Europe and 

 West Siberia. Flowers in May and June. Frimu- 

 lacerc. 



Hydrocharis Morsus-Fonoi (the Frog-bit). — A float- 

 ing water-plant, Avith roundly heart-shaped leaves 

 and white flowers, appearing above the water of our 

 ponds and ditches during the autumn months. It is 

 a small and pretty plant, the leaves dark green or 



brownish in colour, and flowers nearly one inch 

 across. The winter-buds are easily seen when they 

 commence to grow, and they are tiien easily trans- 

 ferred to the garden. It is found in Europe and 

 Siberia. Flowers during July and August. Hydro- 

 charidece. 



Jussicea grand'iflora. — This is a fine plant where 

 space can bo afforded. The stems extend many feet, 

 and float on the water, bearing oblong-lanceolate 

 leaves, and large golden flowers with five petals. It 

 is a native of Georgia and Carolina, and as it is not 

 perhaps hardy in severe winters, some rooted pieces 

 should be planted in pots, the hole in the bottom 

 being stopped with clay, so that they can be kept in 

 the green-house. {Botanical Magazine, t. 2122.) Thi?? 

 plant is probably grown sometimes as /. natans, 

 which differs from it, according to De Candolle, 

 in having white flowers. Flowers in autumn. 

 Onagracecc. 



Limnanthemmn nymphaoides (the Fringed Buck- 

 bean). — One of the most ornamental of British water- 

 plants, known also as Villarsia. In Britain it is not 

 common, but where it grows the water is sheeted 

 with pretty foliage and bright yellow flowers. It is 

 a perennial, and the stems rise to the surface, bearing- 

 leaves in form like those of a small Water-lily, and 

 dappled with brown. The flowers are funnel-shaped, 

 about an inch across, appearing in July and August. 

 It requires no care when once established, and, 

 indeed, often spreads considerably. In Holland the 

 canals are often covered with its leaves and flowers. 

 Native of Europe and Asia. Flowers in July and 

 August. Gentian coi. 



Lobelia Dortmanna. — A British species, more in- 

 teresting to the botanist than the horticulturist. It 

 grows submerged in mountain lakes, with gravelly 

 bottom. The leaves are two or three inches long, in 

 tufts ; a flower- stem twelve or eighteen inches long- 

 raises the pale lilac flowers slightly above the water. 

 It apparently requires perfectly clear water to grow 

 in, as the sediment deposited on the leaves in the 

 pond of the bog-garden at Cambridge seems to prove 

 fatal after some time. It is cultivated, however, in 

 pots in a gi^een-house, the hole at the bottom being 

 stopped with clay,- and with this treatment it is not 

 difiicult to manage. It is a native of Europe and 

 North America. Flowers in July and August. 

 Loheliacece. 



Menyanthes trifoliata (the Marsh-trefoil, or Bog- 

 bean). — This is perhaps the most popular of British 

 marsh-plants, its beauty and fragrance have ever 

 been regarded with admiration, and it is one not to 

 be omitted. The stems are stout and creeping, and 

 when planted near water they grow down into it, 

 and creep also on the wet ground of the bank ; the 

 leaves reach upwards about six inches, and are com- 



