This slide (Kodacrome) shows the aquatic phase of the growth cycle of Orcuttia tenuis: the blades of grass in this view seen floating on the water surface, particularly evident in the lower left quarter of the slide, are O. tenuis (Note particularly the stranded blades draping over the volcanic rock in the far lower left). In this view, several culms have began to emerge from the water, as flowering progresses (essentially, in the lower middle view) with drying of the pool. As pool drying progresses, the floating, high-leaf area leaves of O. tenuis become expendable, and the plants adopt a terrestrial life-history stage, with more xeric foliage leaves which characterize the specimens in herbaria.