24.MARSILIA L, 1737. 
This name was dedicated by Michelius [Nov. Gen. 
5. 1729.]| to Aloysius Marsilius, an Italian physictst. 
Lt was then applied to species which Linnaeus after- 
wards included in his genus Jungermannia. The 
present genus Marsilia was known to the Pre-Linne- 
an botanists by the names Lenticula, Lens palustris 
&c., names which were also applied to our present 
Lemna species. 
Plants with slender, creeping rootstock. Leaves long- 
petioled. Sporocarps borne on short peduncles, arising 
from the rootstock and being more or less adnate to the 
petiole. 
1. M. quadrifolia L. PEs 
Marsilia quadrifolia L. Sp. Pl. 1099. Eaton, 
in Gray, Man. 7o1. Underw. in Ill. Fl. 1: 33; 
Nat. Ferns 123; in Britt. Man. 20. Clute, 1905. 
Fern Allies 195. 
Submerged plants ; leaves bearing a whorl of four ob- 
ovate-cuneate, 1.5 cm. long leaflets; sporocarps ovoid. 
Introduced into the fishponds at Washington, D. C. 
where it grows in great profusion. 
Pre-Linnean authors seein to agree that this is the plant 
mentioned by Theophrastus under the name Lemma. 
Dalechamp [ Hist. Plant. 1: 1014. 1587.] described and 
figured it under that name. 
The following description is takenfrom Parkinson 
[Theatrum Botanicum 2: 1262. 1640.] to illustrate the 
language and the method of those days. 
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