The Fern Allies of the Ottawa-Hull District 
Part IV The Quillworts by D. F. Brunton 
Here is a really peculiar group of plants. Seventy 
species of this genus ( Isoetes) are found across the 
world, and all are totally aquatic. It is a well-named 
genus, as it looks like so many quills poking out of the 
bottom of some freshwater area. Care must be taken not 
to confuse quillworts with the flowering plant Pipewort 
( Eriocaulon septangulare ). At the base of each quillwort 
rosette can be seen a swollen base (the corms) which 
contains numerous round, granular objects called mega¬ 
spores. It is the size and pattern of these megaspores 
which identify (none-too-accurately) the species of 
Isoetes . 
We have two species in the Ottawa-Hull District. 
As these plants are poorly understood and very difficult 
to identify in the field (a microscope is almost essen¬ 
tial) , our knowledge of them here is sketchy and only 
the few definitely (?!) identified stations are illus¬ 
trated. 
SHORT-LEAVED QUILLWORT 
RIVERBANK QUILLWORT 
Distribution of Quillworts in the Ottawa-Hull District 
48 
