Page:The Book of the Aquarium and Water Cabinet.djvu/39

Rh Isopelis fluitans, or the floating Isopelis, is another of the curiosities of water botany. It is somewhat common in English ponds and slow streams. The blossom is inconspicuous, having no petals; the stamens are three in number, and there is but one petal.

Subularia aquatica is one of the few aquatic plants furnished by the great family of crossworts, or plants of the cabbage and wall-flower kind. Its common name is awl-wort, and suggested by the awl-like foliage which it produces under water. It is to be found only in clear mountain lakes, for it is a true aquatic alpine, frequent only in the North of England, and in Scotland and Ireland. The aquarian who resides near any mountain lake or pool, should seek for it, and treasure it as the choicest gem in his collection. The lower leaves are curve-pointed like a cobbler’s awl, and in July it sends up a short stalk, bearing a head of snow-white four-petaled blossoms, and presents a somewhat unique example of a flower in full bloom under the water. My attention was first called to this plant by Mr. Dowden’s charming work on wild plants, called “Botany of the Bohereens.”

Ranunculus aquatalis, or the water crowfoot, must be known to everyone who has been in the habit of rambling in the country quite sober and with eyes open. It is to be found in almost every pond, and by the middle of May is in full bloom, continuing gay till far into autumn. It is a member of the buttercup family, and may be recognised as a buttercup of a snow white, with a bright yellow centre. If you step carefully to the edge of a pond or river, where this crow-foot covers the shore-water with its