This is a new translation of a book written in 1886; the translation by D.H. Les, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biolgy at the University of Connecticut. According to Les, "much of the content remains accurate to this day...Moreover, Schenck's book provides an important historical perspective on the state of knowledge that existed in this branch of science during the 19th century...this book...presents some of the first characterizations of aquatic plant adaptations with evolutionary overtones."
Major sections of the book are devoted to the "submersed aquatic plant formation", the "floating plant formation", the "overwintering of aquatic plants", the "proportion of vegetative reproduction to fructification", the "floral organization and pollination processes in aquatic plants", the "fruit formation and seed dispersal in aquatic plants", the "germination of aquatic plants", and the "geographical distribution of hydrophytes and floating plants."