CX. NAIADACEAE 
549 
perianth none ; ovary of a single, 1 -celled, 1-ovuled carpel, stigmas 
3, thread-like. Achene oblong, smooth. 
Marshes and ponds throughout India, ascending to 8000 ft. ; May-October. 
— Almost cosmopolitan, except frigid zones. 
Naias flexilis is a British plant. 
CXI. ERIOCAULACEiE 
Dwarf, scapose, perennial, rarely annual herbs, growing on the 
margins of lakes and ponds. Leaves radical, narrow, entire. 
Scapes erect, naked. Flowers minute, 1 -sexual, male and female 
intermixed in globose, dense, terminal heads. Perianth hypo- 
gynous, scarious, number of segments variable. Stamens usually 
6. Ovary free, 3-celled ; ovule one in each cell ; style 3-branched. 
Capsule 3-lobed ; seeds 3. — Chiefly tropical regions. — The Order 
is represented in Europe by a single American species, Eriocaulon 
septangular e, found only in the Hebrides and on the west coast 
of Ireland. 
ERIOCAULON. From the Greek erion , wool, and caulos, a 
stem, referring to the woolly scapes of some species. — Chiefly 
tropical regions. 
Rootstock creeping, fibrous. Loaves radical, crowded, narrow, 
glabrous, entire, base sheathing. Scapes many, erect, naked, 
slender, terminating in globose or ovoid heads of minute, 1 -sexual 
flowers. Receptacle convex or columnar. Central flowers chiefly 
male, the outer chiefly female intermixed with small bracts ; the 
outer bracts larger and forming an involucre round the base of the 
head. Perianth very thin, hypogynous, of 4-6 segments in two 
series ; the outer or sepals free ; the inner or petals free in the 
female flowers, but in the males united in a tube. Stamens usually 
6, inserted on the perianth-tube ; anthers versatile. Ovary free, 
3-celled ; ovule one in each cell ; style straight, 3-branched at 
the top. Capsule 3-lobed ; seeds 3. 
Receptacle glabrous. Scapes 2-9 in. 
Leaves rarely xj> in. broad . . . . 1. E. Sieboldianum. 
Leaves in. broad . . . . . . 3. E. nepalense. 
Receptacle hairy. Scapes 8-18 in. . . .2. E. oryzetorum. 
*1. Eriocaulon Sieboldianum, Sieb. & Zucc. ; FI. Br. Ind. vi. 
577. Annual. Leaves 2-4 in., rarely ^ in. broad. Scapes 2-6 in. 
Heads \ in. diarn., pale grey or tinged with purple ; involucral 
bracts glabrous, oblong, obtuse ; receptacle glabrous ; floral bracts 
