WATER PLANTAIN. 



310 



WEINMANNIA. 



hardy. Most water plants have their 

 leaves and flowers always above the 

 surface of the water ; and others raise 

 themselves above the water in the 

 day, when their flowers are expanded, 

 and sink below it at night, when their 

 flowers are closed up, so as not to be 

 injured by the water. To enable 

 them to do this, if the water should 

 be deep, the stems are sometimes 

 unnaturally elongated ; and conse- 

 quently they become weak, and un- 

 able to flower or perfect their seeds 

 properly. To avoid the inconveni- 

 ence of this, a framework, as shown 

 in Fig. 38, is sometimes fixed in the 

 margin of the pond to hold the pot 

 in which the plant grows, and to keep 

 it at a proper depth in the water. 



Fig. 38. 



HOOK FOR SUSPENDING WATER PLANTS. 



"When plants are placed in the beds 

 of rivers, a stone should be laid on 

 the roots to keep them in their pro- 

 per place, and to prevent them from 

 being washed away by the stream. 



Water Plantain. — Alisma. — 

 British marsh plants. 



Water Reed. — Arundo Dbnax. 

 — See Arundo. 



Water Starwort. — Callltriche 

 aquatica. 



Water Soldier. — Stratibtes alb- 

 ides. — This curious British plant 

 when rooted in the mud at the bot- 

 tom of ponds or other pieces of still 

 water, sends out long runners which 

 rise to the surface, and there pro- 

 trude roots. Then detaching them- 

 selves from the parent plant, they 

 float about till they have blossomed 

 and perfected their seed ; after which 

 they sink down to the bottom, where 

 fixing themselves in the mud, they 

 ripen their seeds, which sow them- 

 selves, and thus give birth to new 

 plants which send out fresh runners to 

 rise to the surface the following sum- 

 mer. When this plant is to be grown 

 in pleasure-grounds or cisterns, it ia 

 only necessary to throw some plants of 

 it into the water to which they are to 

 be transferred, at the time they are 

 floating about in their detached state ; 

 and at the proper season they will 

 sink and take root in the mud at the 

 bottom. These plants are worth 

 growing on account of the curious 

 manner in which they illustrate the 

 beautiful economy of nature. 



Water Violet. — Hottonia pa~ 

 lustris. — See Hottonia. 



Watsonia. — Iridece. — Bulbous 

 plants, very nearly allied to Gladio- 

 lus ; and which require exactly the 

 same culture as plants of that genus. 

 — See Gladiolus. 



Wax Tree. — Ligustrum lucidum. 

 — See Ligustrum. 



Wayfaring Tree. — See Vibur- 

 num. 



Weinmannia. — Cunoniacecs. — 

 Stove shrubs which should be grown 

 in peat and loam, and which are pro- 

 pagated by cuttings of the young 

 wood. The flowers are whitish, and 

 something like those of the Mela- 

 leuca. 



