56 



THE FAMILY AQUAEIUM. 



solid, oval spikelets. The bulrush grows in deep water 

 In China the S. tuherosus is cultivated in tanks, and the 

 tubers are eaten, both boiled and raw. None of this 

 species can be commended highly for the Aquarium. 



No. 21. The Water Violet is, properly speaking, an 

 exotic plant, and is rarely found growing wild in this 

 country. We have met with it, but the reader may not 

 be so successful. It has bright green, feathery leaves, 

 and whorls of pinkish-purple flowers. 



No. 22. Spikewort is also a scarce aquatic plant. It 

 is bushy ; looks somewhat like fennel, and is found in 

 ponds and rivulets. It gives off oxygen liberally. 



No. 23. Brooklime, has sky-blue flowers in loose, lateral 

 spikes. The leaves are ovate and very thick. The flower- 

 stalks proceed from the joint. 



No. 24, Ferns, and No. 25, Forget-me-not, are culti- 

 vated upon the projecting pieces of rock in an Aquarium. 

 Both kinds love to grow near^ but not in the water. They 

 are only employed, therefore, as embellishments. The 

 ferns are very numerous, and if the foot-stalks of the 

 fronds or leaves are placed in the water, so as to allow 

 the feather-like foliage to droop over the rockwork, the 

 effect is agreeable. In a similar position, the tender 

 shades of delicate turquoise-blue of the forget-me-not are 

 admirable, with the small touches of white and amber at 

 the base of their petals. The German legend has em- 

 balmed this flower and made it immortal. A lady, desir- 

 ing some that grew in the Rhine, her lover sought to 



