by Nathaniel Lord Britton & Addison Brown

“ The vegetative growth is by lateral branching, the branches being but slightly connected by slender stalks and soon separating. In the autumn these disconnected branches fall to the bottom of the ditch or pond, but rise and again increase in size in the spring. The inflorescence consists of one or more naked monoecious flowers borne on the edge or upper surface of the plant. Each flower commonly consists of but a single stamen or a single flask-shaped pistil. ”

“ The pollen-grains (microspores) on alighting upon the summit of the carpel (stigma) germinate, sending out a pollen-tube which penetrates its tissue and reaching an ovule enters the orifice of the latter (micropyle) , and its tip coming in contact with a germ-cell in the embryo-sac, fertilization is effected. In a few cases the pollen-tube enters the ovule at the chalaza, not at the micropyle. ”

“ Succulent plants consisting of a short fleshy rootstock bearing one or several leaves and numerous fibrous often fleshy roots. Leaves erect or pendent, consisting of a simple, palmately or dichotomously lobed, pinnately compound or decompound, sessile or stalked, sterile blade, and one or several separate stalked fertile spikes or panicles (sporophyls) , borne on a common stalk. Sporanges formed from the interior tissues, naked, each opening by a transverse slit. ”

“ Dr. Asa Gray, in his Structural Botany, says (p. 348) :
"For each plant or group there can be only one valid name, and that always the most ancient, if it is tenable; consequently no new name should be given to an old plant or group, except for necessity."
This principle was applied to Zoology in the Stricklandian Code, adopted in 1842 as Rules of the British Association, and revised in 1860 and 1865 by a committee embracing the most eminent English authorities, such as Darwin, Henslow, Wallace, Clayton, Balfour, Huxley, Bentham and Hooker. ”

“ Evergreen trees with two kinds of leaves, the primary ones linear or scale-like, deciduous, the secondary ones forming the ordinary foliage, narrowly linear, arising from the axils of the former in fascicles of 2-5 (rarely solitary in some western species) , subtended by the bud-scales, some of which are united to form a sheath. Staminate aments borne at the bases of shoots of the season, the clusters of stamens spirally arranged, each in the axil of a minute scale; filaments very short; anthers 2-celled, the sacs longitudinally dehiscent. ”

“ One or more of the upper scales, except sometimes the terminal ones, contains in the axil a flower, which is usually enclosed by a bract-like awnless organ called the palet, placed opposite the scale and with its back toward the axis (rachilla) of the spikelet, generally 2-keeled; sometimes the palet is present without the flower, and vice versa. Flowers perfect, pistillate, or staminate, sometimes monoecious or dioecious, subtended by 1-3 minute hyaline scales called the lodicules. ”

“ Herbs mostly with basal long-petioled simple or compound leaves, and spathaceous inflorescence, the spathe enclosing or subtending a spadix. Rootstock tuberous or a corm, in our species mostly with an acrid or pungent sap. Spadix very densely flowered, the staminate flowers above, the pistillate below, or the plants wholly dioecious, or with perfect flowers in some species. ”