48 
BOTANICAL. INDEX 
which the plant starts in spring. From the conn, (Fig. 107, a,) at the first approach 
of warm weather, starts a large, porous rootstock, reaching up to near the surface of 
the earth and there throws out innumerable fibrous roots, (Fig. 107, b,) which is the 
true crown from which spring the leaves, flowers and stolens, and is also the plant 
centre during summer. By the first of June the milky juice (starch, or saccharine, 
&c.,) has usually been absorbed by the new growth of the plant, and the corm is then 
a soft and flexible, or spongy, mass, reminding one of a sprouted and growing pota- 
to, while by the middle of July or first of August we could not find any corm, but 
found decayed masses which we were reasonably certain were the remains of the 
former corms. Fig 10!) shows a cross section about natural size of a conn in early 
spring before it has lost its form and vigor. In our correspondence we find very few 
botanists or collectors that have any definite knowledge of corms being found on the 
Eastern or North Western plants, and all seem to regard the Sagittal' is in these lo- 
calities as not producing any tubers, for it is said that no herbarium in the country 
shows a specimen with a tuber attached that was collected in the Eastern portion of 
North America. This may be very easily explained by the fact that the crown of 
roots appears so perfect that collectors evidently concluded this to be all of the plant, 
or perhaps they were collected when the corm was absorbed by the growing plant. 
Now the above observation, we believe, will be found to be true in all parts of the 
country if collectors will collect early and dig deeper. 
Fig. 108. — Showing the Phyllodium. 
In addition to tuberous and fibrous roots, the Sagittaria present the feature of pro- 
ducing Stolens or long, creeping roots, (Fig. 110) just beneath the surface of the 
earth. They start from the stem, and usually from just above the fibrous roots, or 
from the upper portion of the stock covered with the fibrous roots, and creep out 
horizontally from the plant in all directions. We do not now recall a single genus 
of plants, that present so many different forms of development in each plant, as the 
Sagittaria. First, the roots are of three entirely distinct forms, (often on the same 
plant,) the tuberous, fibrous and stoloniferous. Next, the leaves are sometimes 
phyllodia, (submerged and riband-like) others are an elliptical, erect blade upon a tall, 
round or slightly angular stem, and, lastly, the leaf developed into its true form — 
arrow-shaped. Again, let us look at the flower ; the lower ones are usually fertile, 
producing seed to perpetuate its kind, while the upper ones are 
sterile and barren ; or each flower stock producing flowers with 
the sexes separate, and still on the same stock. 
The flowers are borne on long, leafless, branched stems, (Fig. 
107) well above the foliage, with pure white petals and a yellow 
centre, (stamens) usually single, but occasionally S. Sagittaefolia 
and S. Yariabilis var. latifolia have been found growing wild with 
double flowers. The European Nurserymen offer these varie- 
ties for sale at from Gd. to 2s. 6d. each, which shows how readily 
they are increased, but we never heard of their being offered in 
