ENGELMANN—NORTH AM. SPECIES OF JUNCUS. 461 
water. It seems that about the period of maturing the seeds, 
at the end of August, the long horizontal rhizoma, which at 
its«end is to bear the flowering stem of next season, begins to 
shoot forth, and from the axils of its scales produces a number 
of extremely short or rudimentary branchlets which are again 
branching and form short knobs on the rootstock. These 
branchlets bear a number of capillary leaves of the thickness 
of horsehair, and knotted like the ordinary leaves of this 
species, at this time, end of August, few in number, and only 
a few inches long. Towards the close of the season they in¬ 
crease in number and length, and seem to live through the 
winter wherever they are immersed deep enough to escape 
the frost. They attain their full development about May 
and June, when they are 2-3 feet long, and carpet the bottom 
of those streams, at the depth of 2-4 feet below the surface, 
with their dark green undulating masses, most beautiful to 
look at, but quite obnoxious to the proprietors of the mill- 
streams, the sluices of which they are apt to obstruct. These 
leaves decay about the period the plant begins to bloom. The 
beautiful specimens collected by Dr. Robbins for the Herba¬ 
rium Normale (No. 53) exhibit them to perfection. The 
twist and bend of the stem of many of Dr. Robbins’ flow¬ 
ering specimens is caused by the strong current in which 
they grew. The only thing approaching such submerged 
leaves, Mr. Parker has found in the Delaware above Philadel¬ 
phia, where this plant grows “in shallow water, extending to 
the border of deep running water, the finest specimens grow¬ 
ing at a depth of 3 or 4 feet.” How does this species grow 
in stagnant ponds or swamps ? It would be very desirable 
that collectors of Junci should pay more attention to the 
circumstances under which these plants occur, the process of 
their vegetation, the time of flowering and of maturity, and, 
of course, to the base of the stem and to the rootstock, which 
is too often a vain desideratum in herbarium specimens. 
37. J. supiniformis, n. sp.: foliis vernalibus e basi latiore 
subulatis capillaceis longissimis teretibus pallide virentibus 
natantibus evanescentibus; caule florifero erecto humili 
(digitali vel ultra) folia erecta teretia longiora gerente; 
panicula simplici; capitulis sub-5-floris; sepalis ovato-lan- 
ceolatis cuspidatis nervosis aequalibus seu externis paulo bre- 
vioribus inter se insequalibus stamina 3 stigmataque paulo 
excedentibus; antheris oblongis filamento multo brevioribus;, 
stylo per-brevi; capsula prismatica obtusa mucronata unilo- 
culari calycem fere excedente; seminibus obovatis utrumque* 
apiculatis. 
Common in and around ponds near Mendocino City, Cali¬ 
fornia; May and June, AT. JBolander, Cal. State Surv. 4767.— 
Mr. Bolander informs me that in spring these ponds are com- 
cm 
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