Water-soldier (Stratiotes aloides), a plant belonging to a genus of the natural order Hydrocharideæ, is common in lakes and ditches in the east of England. It is a singular plant with numerous leaves, which are strap-shaped and spring from the root, from which also springs the two-edged flower-stem, bearing the spathe with beautiful and delicate white flowers. In autumn the whole plant disappears, the root alone remaining at the bottom of the water, from which a number of young plants arise in spring, filling up ditches, so that nothing else can grow in them. The water-soldier is a very ornamental aquatic plant.
