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VIII. An Account of the Management of Aquatic Plants, 

 with Descriptions of several Species, now cultivated in 

 England, By William Kent, Esq. F. L. S. fyc. 



Read December 2, 1817. 



Although aquatic plants are confined to few genera and 

 species, at least those which are deemed worthy of cultiva- 

 tion, still their beauty, and structure, must be interesting, 

 both to the horticulturist and the philosopher : their mode of 

 growth precludes them from general observation, and, conse- 

 quently, they vegetate, bloom, and fructify, almost unnoticed ; 

 but in the eye of the close observer of nature, their interest 

 and attractive elegance are surpassed by no other tribe of 

 plants whatever ; there are few persons, whose delight is in 

 the vegetable kingdom, and who have beheld them growing 

 and flowering in perfection, but are desirous of adding them 

 to their other botanical treasures, and ready also to bear testi- 

 mony to their almost unrivalled beauty. 



Having, for the last five years, paid particular attention to 

 the culture of aquatics, I am anxious to communicate to 

 the Horticultural Society, the mode I have adopted with the 

 best success. To name every species would occasion fre- 

 quent repetition, I shall mention, therefore, a few only; 

 some, that require the protection of the stove and the green- 

 house; and others, which are hardy. The genera I pur- 

 pose noticing, are Menyanthes, Nymphcea, Nuphar, Euryale, 



