( 66 ) 
This plant should properly have come in after the Lycopodiums, brat 
to put it there would break up the numbers which I refer to in the intro- 
duction and elsewhere. 
Mafsilacejl 
A family of pseudoferns possessing a distinct leafy stem ; composed 
of a small number of plants of minute dimensions, but of great interest in 
& physiological point of view. They 7 are all aquatics, some growing in the 
mud in and around sheets of water, others floating on the surface of ' the 
stagnant waters. The genera composing this family are Pilularia, Marsilea, 
Salvinia and Azolla, the second and last of which only are natives of Ceylon. 
Marsilea, dwarf herbs, having a creeping rhizome and long-stalked leaves, 
growing at intervals, either singly or in small tufts, and consisting of about 
four cuneate-- bovote leaflets placed crosswise at the end of the petiole, nerved 
somewhat afr-r the fashion of those of Addiantum, and which at night fold up. 
like the leaflets of many Leguminosse, the fructifications growing either from the 
rhizome at the axils of the leaves, or from the petiole of the leaf Moore, 
Berkeley, and others. 
240. Marsilea qua- n iia, Linn. 
Sp. Plant. 1563- Will. l.c. 538. I>i v \ a-ambuloebilya, Sin. Ari-JKeeri,. 
Neeroolarey ; and Ari-ileykkany, Tamil. A very c-mmon plant in the edges- 
of water, and covering low muddy places in Colombo and other parts of 
the island. It is so like in general appearance to the very common creep- 
ing sorrel, oxalis ornfculata, that- the Sinhalese name indicates water-sorrel. 
It is also very like a creeping clover. It is an esculent plant amongst the 
Tamils, who collect it as a keen, or greens. Dr. Muller of Melbourne be- 
lieves that is this the famous “ Nardoo ” ligured and described in the Melbourne 
Weekly Herald of Aug. 7, 1863, whilst Moore states that the Nardoo is 
M. macropus, sometimes called M. hirsuta , and M. salvatrix. the spores and 
spore cases of which are used by the aborigines for food. Some of the 
survivors of the Australian exploring expedition under Mr. Burke in 1861. 
prolonged their lives by the sole use of this food. The last words of 
Wills in his diary were : — Starvation on Nardoo is by no means very un- 
pleasant, but for the weakness one feels, and the utter inability to move 
oneself ; for as far as appetite is concerned, it gives me the greatest satis- 
faction” 
241. Marsilea e>osa, Willd. 
Sp. Plant. 1. c. 540. 0. P. 1422. My specimens are from Mr. Beckett 
from Malate, and from Dr. Thwaites. It is evidently rare compared with other 
species as I have not noted it in my travels. It is the Yara-Ari of the 
Tamils. It is at once distinguishable from M. quadrifolia by its leaves* 
which are toothed in a very irregular manner as if bitten. 
242. Azolla pianata, R. Br. 
Prod. Nov. Hoi. p. 167, Salviriiaimbricata, Rox. Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. 
470. C. P. 1421 Common floating on the surface of water in some of the 
warmer parts of the island, and often grown on the surface of flowerpots 
filled with writer. 
“A very curious genus belonging to the Marsileaceous division of the 
pseudoferns. Its habit is that of a floating pinnately- branched Jungermcmnia , 
with two or four-ranked imbricating leaves ; but its fructification is totally 
different, and is nearer to Salvinia than to any other genus, and with which 
it forms a distinct section or order, according to the views of authors. In- 
deed, its peculiarities are such that it has sometimes to constitute a 
distinct orderj by itself. The species float upon the water, forming green 
or reddish patches, which are frequently several yards across, throwing 
down rootlets on the under side, amongst which are situated, principally 
in the axils of the leaves, the organs of fructification. The species 
occur from Australia and New Zealand as far as New York; one has been 
found in Western Africa by Yogal. It has been supposed that the ditierences 
