| Editor's notes: The
above stunning image was taken by Ron Neumeyer. It shows cellular leaf
detail of the common water plant Myriophyllum, the water milfoil. Ron remarks
that the image 'was captured using a Leitz Heine condenser, 10x eyepiece
and a 12x apo Leitz objective'.
The water milfoil has whorls of feathery leaves. Its long trailing stems are usually found submerged in slow and still-moving water. Its four-petalled flowers, which arise from the base of the leaf whorls, bloom above the water surface typically in June-September. Myriophyllum, as well as being attractive to study in their own right, frequently have a wide range of epiphytic freshwater life of interest to the microscopist. Image right shows the spiked water milfoil. Image derived by D.Walker from Fig. 49 in 'Freshwater Aquaria' by Rev. G. C. Bateman, 2nd edition, 1904. |
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