The Struggle for Life in the Swamp. 249 
Having taken a glance at water plants in general we 
may return again to the savannah. The giant razor grass 
is undoubtedly king wherever he can find suitable con- 
ditions and the water is not very deep. Other sedges 
and grasses however can abide a stronger current from 
their greater flexibility, and find room in other places. 
Here they have to contend with another monster, that, 
although not so bloodthirsty as the razor grass, carries 
everything before him. This is the Panicum elephan- 
tipes — the floating island grass — which is as much at 
home in the swamp as on the river. Whatever the 
depth of water it matters not to him — such things only 
concern the puny creatures which he permits to exist 
here and there. Provided with thick hollow floating 
rhizomes he anchors himself to a bush or in the shallows 
and will cover acres in a month or two. Spreading out 
like a great blanket he smothers everything that comes 
in the way, even going so far as to form something like 
a dam across a creek, which proves a formidable 
obstacle and raises the water several feet. Of course 
this interference does not last long. As well try to keep 
back the tide as a Guiana flood. The rains come, the 
waters rise, lift the grassy blanket and tear it to pieces, 
rush through their proper channel, and the monster is 
defeated. But he is scotched, not killed. From his 
fragments others are produced which go on covering 
their acres of savannah until the flood comes again and 
leaves them as before. 
In the swamp proper where man leaves nature to her- 
self, the struggle has resulted in every plant accommo- 
dating itself to some particular conditions. Under these 
conditions they flourish and increase wonderfully, making 
