Wild-Flower Studv 



553 



Cat-tails sending off their seed balloons. 

 Photo by Verne Morton. 



the stream? Why do they not extend further inland? What is the 

 character of the soil on which they grow? 



3. What sort of a root has the cat-tail? Why is this root especially 

 adapted to the soil where cat-tails grow? Describe the rootstock. 



4. The cat-tail plant. Are the leaves arranged opposite or alternate? 

 Tear off a few of the leaves and describe the difference between the lower 

 and the upper end of a leaf as follows: How do they differ in shape? 

 Texture? Pliability? Color? W T idth? Does each leaf completely 

 encircle the stalk at its base? Of what use is this to the plant? Of what 

 use is it to have the plant stiff er where the leaves clasp the stalk? What 

 would happen in a wind storm if this top-heavy, slender seed stalk was 

 bare and not supported by the leaves ? What is the special enemy of long, 

 tall, slender-leafed plants? 



5. Take a single leaf, cut it across near where it joins the main stalk 

 and also near its tip. Look at the cross-section and see how the leaf is 

 veined. What do its long veins or ribs do for the leaf? Split the leaf 

 lengthwise and see what other supports it has. Does the cat-tail leaf break 

 or tear along its edges easily? Does the wind injure any part of the leaf? 



6. Study the cat-tail flowers the last half of June. Note the part 

 that will develop into the cat's tail. Describe the part above it. Can 

 you see where the pollen comes from ? The pistillate flowers which are in 

 the plush of the cat-tail have no sepals, petals, odor nor nectar. Do 

 you think that their pollen is carried to them by the bees? How is it 

 carried? 



7. Examine the cat-tail in fall or winter. What has happened to 

 that part of the stalk above the cat-tail where the anthers grew? Study 



