BOTANICAL INDEX. 
45 
are of great service in studying the development and progress of civilization and 
arts, from the infancy of the human race to the present day. We say “primi- 
tive man seems to copy from nature,” wishing to emphasise the word seems , 
for no one will assume, at this late date, to know what their motives or designs 
were; all we know, is, the analogy is ver}* striking, and whether they used the pat- 
terns set before them or not is immaterial to our comparison; suffice it to say, there 
certainly is a strong resemblance, and many of the forms of pre-historic relics have 
received the popular name of “leaf-shape” front Aretnnologists and pass into histo- 
ry as such. But the analogy does not stop here, for within historic times the veget- 
able kingdom has most certainly furnished the designs for some of the choicest gems 
of workmanship of classic times. The leaves of the Acanthus (A. Mollis) are known 
to have furnished the old Greek sculptor with the pattern for the capitol which sur- 
mounts the Corinthian Column, while the leaves of Laurus Nobilis furnished the ma- 
terial for the Wreath of Laurels, so superstitiously prized by the old Greek and Ro- 
man warriors, statesmen and victors, at their National Games, and which, without 
doubt, was superseded in the following ages by the Golden Wreath of Laurels, i. e., 
Imperial Crown, leaves of which were found in the old Tombs of the Kings at My- 
cenae. This subject could be carried to a very indefinite length, but, whether we 
wish to or not, we must dismiss it, and see what we can learn of our chosen subject 
on Water Lilies for this number of the Index, The Sagittaria. Here we have, in ma- 
ture specimens, the typical form of the foliage of all Water Lilies in their immature 
condition, viz, the arrow-shaped leaves, for the leaves of all aquatic plants, (except 
grass) so far as we know, are inrolled and present an arrow or spear-shaped point 
at the end of the stalks, in their growing or young condition, particularly, before 
reaching the surface of water, when they expand or unroll into their normal condi- 
tion, viz, arrow-shaped, heart-shaped, oval or round, according to the species. 
In the last number of the Index we felt called upon to offer an apology for our 
seeming stretch of imagination in applying the term “Water Lily” to the Pontederia, 
and now, we would again repeat the same expression in connection with Sagittaria, 
and would add in continuation, that there is no actual affinity or relationship exist- 
ing between the different members of the group of so-called Water Lilies as we have 
arranged them together, for in a botanical nomenclature some are arranged near the 
first of the series, while others are placed near the last of the list of plants; accord- 
ing to the structure of the fruit and flowers, or to make the comparison as plain as 
possible, let us illustrate by saying: The Nympht.ea, according to the scientific class- 
ification of Sir. Joseph D. Hooker, in his Dcscri/itice and Analytical Botany, is arrang- 
ed as the 10th botanical Family of plants, while the Pontederia are placed in the 46th 
Family ( Pontederaceae ) with 35 distinct changes in the structure of the fruit and flow- 
er from the first family to the last one. They are simply a miscellaneous selection 
of aquatic plants, chosen from several distinct Families, whose habits and manner 
of growth seem to be very similar, but still without any scientific or natural charac- 
ters in common with each other. As we have given the scientific characters of each 
Family, Genus or Species of the Water Lilies as occasion required, we must also add 
that of the Sagittaria here. 
. GENUS SAGITTARTA. Linn.eus. 
[As elaborated by Engelmann, Hooker and others . ] 
Marsh or aquatic, perennial, herbaceous, stoleniferous plants, with fibrous roots; 
and producing subterranean, tuberous corms, with a milky juice. Stems, scape-like, 
radical, rosulate; sheathed at the base by the bases of the long, cellular petioles, of 
which the primary ones are usually devoid of a blade; the secondary ones usually 
have a long, linear blade, and all the subsequent ones develop a more or less perfect 
sagittate blade, except when they are submerged, when they are replaced by long, 
linear or spathulate phyllode. Leaves (blades), floating or erect, of various shapes — 
linear, oval, cordate, oblong or sagittate, veined and reticulated with prominent 
cross veinlets, converging towards the top of the leaf, and united by secondary 
transverse nerves. Flowers, on long, angular, leafless scapes, usually in a 3-whorl- 
ed raceme, from the axils of persistent, membranous bracts; monoecious, but hav- 
ing the fertile and sterile flowers on the same stock, the lower ones being fertile and 
the upper ones sterile. Sepals, three, small, persistent. Petals, three, a delicate 
paper-white, much larger than the sepals, imbricated in the bud, withering. Sta- 
mens, numerous, rarely few. Ovaries, many, crowded in a spherical or somewhat 
triangular depressed head on a globular receptacle. Achenia, flat, fleshy, membran- 
ous marginal, winged and beaked. 
Perhaps, nothing is more interesting than the study of the geographical distribu- 
tion of plant and animal life, even to a person not particularly interested in botany 
or zoology; in proof of which, we would note the marked attention always paid to 
a traveler, both in the lecture room and, also, in the conversation, whenever treat- 
