56 
FERNS. 
[Isoetes. 
plentiful at Bartington Heath, Cheshire, and still found at Baguley Moor, in 
the same county, Mr. W. Wilson.-yW al. : Near Llanfaeloy, Anglcsea, and 
border of Llyn Idwel, Caernarvonshire, Mr. W. Wilson. Sco.: Near In- 
verskin, Sutherland, Mr. Campbell. Marshy ground between the village of 
Currie and the Pcntland Hills, Edinburgh, Mr. H. Watson. Near Slateford, 
Forfarshire, Mr. W. Brand. 
Geo. — Most parts of Europe. 
ISOETES, Linn. QUILLWORT. 
(From (aof, equal, and m;, the year, the plant being evergreen.) 
PLATE OF GENERA, FIG. XVIII. 
ISOETES LACUSTRIS. 
EUROPEAN QUILLWORT. MERLIN’S GRASS. 
(Plate 4, fig. 11.) 
G'iia. — L eaves subulate, bluntly quadrangular, formed of four 
transversely- jointed longitudinal cells. 
Syn. — Isoetes lacustris of all Modern Botanists. 
Fig. — E. B. 1084. — Flo. Lon. N. S. 131. — Bolt. 41. — Flo. Dan. 191. — 
Schk. fil. 173. 
Des. — R oot tufted, composed of long, branched, smooth fibres. 
Leaves radical, tufted, filiform or subulate, 2 to 4 inches high, 
light green, and very brittle. Receptacles formed of the base of 
the leaves : the outer, which are also the larger and older leaves, 
bearing perfect seeds ; the inner and younger leaves produce finer 
granules, said by some to be pollen, by other Botanists with more 
probability considered immature seeds, or rather spores. (See In- 
troduction, page 9.) 
Mr. W. Wilson finds two varieties in Wales ; the one densely tufted, with 
slender, erect leaves, the other with broader and widely-spreading leaves. 
The former of these Dr. Hooker thinks may be the Isoetes setacea of Bose. 
Sprengcl says the plant grows at the bottom of carp ponds, where it would 
not be of very easy access, did not the fish assist the Botanist by disengaging 
it from the mud, when it is found floating at the edges of the pond. 
Sit. — Found only in the extreme north of Wales, north of England, and in 
Scotland, which is a curious circumstance, because submersed water plants arc 
not in general so strictly confined to particular latitudes or altitudes. 
Had. — P restwick Carr, Northumberland, B. G. Ulcswater, Cumberland, 
Mr. Williams. In Llyn-y-cwm, Pfynnon Frich (Snowdon), Lake Ogwan, and 
Llanberris lakes ; also in Floutern Tarn, between'Scale Face and White- 
haven, Mr. W. Wilson. Lakes of Denbighshire, Mr. J. E. Bowman. — Sco. : 
Loch Calladcr, Aberdeenshire, and Locli Brandy, Forfarshire, Mr. IF. Brand. 
Loch Whirr al, Forfarshire, Dr. Graham. Loch Tay, Perthshire, Dr. Greville. 
Most of the Scottish Lakes, Mr. H. C. Watson. — Ire. : Lakes in the Rosses, 
Donegal, Rev. Mr. Murphy. 
Geo. — M ore copious in Sweden and Denmark than elsewhere. Now York 
and northwards in America. 
