A Manual of Aquatic Plants

Abstract

NOTWITHSTANDING the relative uniformity of their environment, aquatic plants exhibit a remarkable variety of form and constitute a very distinct biological group comprising a considerable number of quite unrelated families. An extensive literature already exists relating to the special features of their morphology and ecology; but apart from monographs on certain genera, the group as a whole has not been analysed systematically with the view of simplifying identification. For various reasons the recognition of aquatic species is not always easy and the present work by Prof. Fassett is intended to make as simple as possible the identification of aquatic plants in sterile as well as in flowering or fruiting conditions. The species included in the Manual are those occurring in the region from Minnesota to Missouri and eastward to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Virginia. Though the area is thus restricted, many plants are dealt with which are familiar to botanists outside America.

A Manual of Aquatic Plants

By Prof. Norman C. Fassett. Pp. vii + 382. (New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1940.) 26s.