In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Introduction The aim of this work is to aid in identifying native and naturalized monocotyledonous plants that inhabit aquatic and wetland places, places permanently or seasonally wet. It is not intended to be a study of ecology of hydrophytes. It is hoped that, as a taxonomicfloristic work, it will have value to ecologists, to agents of governmental agencies concerned one way or another with environmental problems, to contractual firms engaged in environmental impact analyses, to individuals with general ecological interests , and to students in colleges and universities. Recognizing that these prospective users will have had diverse or limited experience in plant identification, we have sought to use, whenever possible, nontechnical language. We trust that we may have achieved this goal to a limited but useful extent. A glossary is included to help with the technical terminology without which it is impossible to describe features necessary for reasonable understanding. It is intended that this volume will be followed by another treating dicotyledonous plants. Initially we did not plan to have research on the two groups of flowering plants published separately. However, as the endeavor proceeded, the magnitude of the task and the consequent anticipated time period necessary to accomplish the whole rather overwhelmed us. Moreover, we were encouraged, especially by persons in governmental agencies in the local area, to make even a part available as soon as practicable. Wethen decided to restrict ourselves to monocotyledons and to have this work published separately. Meanwhile, the treatment of dicotyledons is being prepared. Those of the southeastern United States for which this manual affords botanical coverage (see preface) encompass parts of the following physiographic provinces: Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, southern Appalachian highlands, flanked on the east by the Piedmont plateau, and on the west by the Appalachian plateau, the interior lowlands, and the interior highlands. The region has a diverse topography, a wide range of habitat types, varied and variable organismal communities, thus diverse ecosystems. In many instances our ecosystems, complex and not readily delimited to begin with, are becoming increasingly "blurred" and degraded both by man's overt direct manipulation and by the vicissitudinous alterations attendant upon one or another of his activities. F O R M A T The text for each species includes a statement indicating the habitat or habitats in which the plant usually grows and a statement of its geographic distribution. Most of the statements must be taken as generalities, subject in many instances to exception and incompleteness. For the stated geographic ranges, especially for widely distributed species, we relied upon relatively recent taxonomic revisions whenever possible. Otherwise, we followed or adapted from ranges given in floras and manuals, particularly Small (1933), Fernald (1950), Gleason (1952), and Correll and Correll (1972). The range for each of the wideranging species is expressed as nearly as feasible according to the geographic areas which mark the limits of range. In most cases the northern boundary is given first, beginning at the northeast, in the style of the widely used floras by Fernald and Gleason. The general reference list at the end of this book includes, for the most part, publications cited in the text. Additionally it includes some general references, such as Sculthorpe (1967) and Cook (1974), which, besides including very valuable general information concerning aquatic plants, have very extensive and useful literature citations . In some cases, we have given full reference in the text to articles not in the general reference list, the thought being that they would have greater value to the userif placed with the treatment of the taxon to which they specifically applied. 1 Introduction The aim of this work is to aid in identifying native and naturalized monocotyledonous plants that inhabit aquatic and wetland places, places permanently or seasonally wet. It is not intended to be a study of ecology of hydrophytes. It is hoped that, as a taxonomicfloristic work, it will have value to ecologists, to agents of governmental agencies concerned one way or another with environmental problems, to contractual firms engaged in environmental impact analyses, to individuals with general ecological interests , and to students in colleges and universities. Recognizing that these prospective users will have had diverse or limited experience in plant identification, we have sought to use, whenever possible, nontechnical language. We trust that we may have achieved this goal to a limited but useful extent. A glossary is included to help with the technical terminology without which it is impossible to describe features necessary for reasonable understanding. It is intended that this...

Share