68 FERNS. [Isoetes. 
simple, very small, smooth, radical fibres, and from the same part 
upwards from two to six filiform, hollow, green leaves, about 2 
inches long, among which, at their base, grow one or two receptacles, 
not radical, as generally said, but attached to the upper part of the 
stem, and therefore, although near the roots, not attached to them. 
The receptacles are round like a peppercorn, (hence the name of 
the plant,) brown, and hairy. The spores are oblong, contracted in 
the middle, and slightly pointed at one end. 
Sit. — Pools of water, edges of lakes, &c., not uncommon. 
IIab. — Scot.: Near Inverskin, Sutherland, Mr. Campbell. Marshy ground 
between the village of Currie and the Pentland Hills, Edinburgh, Mr. II. Watson. 
Near Slateford, Forfarshire, Mr. W. Brand. — Eng. : Prestwich, near Northumber- 
land, Mr. R. Bowman. Colesliill Pool, Warwickshire, Rev. W. Bree. Bomere 
Pool, Salop, Rev. E. Williams. Near Richmond, Yorkshire, Mr. J. Ward. Beam 
Heath, near Nantwich, Cheshire, Mr. J. E. Bowman. Once plentiful at Barting- 
ton Heath, Cheshire, and still found at Baguley Moor, in the same county, 
Mr. W. Wilson. Filby and Hopton Commons, near Yarmouth, Mr. Paget. 
Once and perhaps still in the ponds at Roehampton, Surrey ; and on Iver Heath, 
Middlesex, G. F. In a small pool between Oakshot Hill and Claremont Park, 
Surrey, Mr. II. C. Watson. Sussex, Rev. G. E. Smith. Grosvenor and Roche, 
Cornwall, Jones’s Bot. Tour. — Wales : Near Llanfaeloy, Anglesea ; and border of 
Llyn Idvvel, Caernarvonshire, Mr. W. Wilson. 
Geo. — Most parts of Europe. 
ISOETES, Linn. QUILLWORT. 
(From msoq, equal, and trog, the year ; the plant being evergreen.) 
PLATE OF GENERA, FIG. XVIII. 
A, lower part of a plant of Isoetes lacustris, natural size. B, portion of the 
filiform leaf much magnified. C, receptacle of the larger kind of fruit. D, 
receptacle of the smaller granules. E, spore magnified. F, arrangement of four 
spores upon one of the transverse bars of the receptacles, as described in the 
Introduction, p. 12. G, section of the receptacle which bears fertile spores. 
H, section of the abortive sporules. 
ISOETES LACUSTRIS. 
EUROPEAN QUILLWORT. MERLIN’S GRASS. 
Ciia. — L eaves subulate, bluntly quadrangular, formed of four 
transversely-jointed longitudinal cells. 
