TYPHACE^. (cat-tail FAMILY.) 547 



taper-pointed, longer than the obtuse capsule ; seeds not appendaged. — Alpine 

 summits of tlie White Mts. and far northward. (Eu.) 



5. L. spicata, Desvaux. Leaves channelled, narrowly linear; flowers in 

 sessile clusters, forming a nodding interrupted spiked panicle, brown ; sepals 

 bristle-pointed, scarcely as long as the abruptly sliort-pointed capsule ; seeds 

 merely with a roundish projection at base. — With tlie last, and more com- 

 mon. (Eu.) 



Order 122. TYPHACE^E. (Cat-tail Family.) 



Marsh or aquatic herbs, with nerved and linear sessile leaves^ and mon€e- 

 cious flowers on a spadix or in heads, destitute of proper floral envelopes. 

 Ovary 1 - 2-celled, with as many persistent styles and (usually elongated) 

 1-sided stigmas ; cells 1-ovuled. Fruit nut-like when ripe, 1-seeded, rarely 

 2-seeded. Seed suspended, anatropous; embryo straight in copious 

 albumen. Root perennial. 



1. Typha. Flowers in a cylindrical compact terminal spike; spathe-like bract deciduous 



2. Sparganium. Flowers in globular heads with foliaceous bracts. 



1. TYPHA, Tourn. (Cat-tail Flag.) 



Flowers in a long and very dense cylindrical spike terminating the stem ; 

 the upper part consisting of stamens only, inserted directly on the axis, and 

 intermixed with long hairs; the lower part consisting of stipitate 1-celled ova- 

 ries, tlie stipes bearing club-shaped bristles, which form the copious down of 

 the fruit. Nutlets minute, very long-stalked. — Spathes merely deciduous 

 bracts, or none. Root-stocks creeping. Leaves long, sheathing the base of 

 the simple jointless stems, erect, thickish. Flowering in summer. (TiJ<|)7j, the 

 old Greek name.) 



1. T. latifolia, L. (Common Cat-tail.) Stout and tall (4 - 6° high), the 

 fiat .sheathing leaves 3- 10" broad, exceeding the stem; the staminate and 

 dark brown pistillate parts of the spike (each 3 -6' long or more) usually 

 contiguous, the latter at length 1' in diameter; pistillate flowers ivithout bract- 

 lets; stigma rhombic-lanceolate ; pollen-grains in fours. — In marshes, through- 

 out N. Am. (Eu.) 



2. T. ang"UStif61ia, L. Leaves narrower (3-6" broad), taller, somewhat 

 convex on the l)ack; pistillate and staminate inflorescence usually separated 

 by a short interval, the light brown spike becoming 5-6" in diameter; pollen- 

 grains simple ; pistillate flowers ivith a linear stigma and a hair-like bractlei 

 slightly dilated at the summit. — N. Eng. to N. J., west to Mich, and Mo.; 

 less frequent, and mainly near the coast. (Eu.) 



2. SPARGANIUM, Tourn. Bur-reed. 



Flowers collected in separate dense and spherical leafy-bracted heads, whicTi 

 are scattered along the summit of the stem ; the upper sterile, consisting 

 merely of stamens, with minute scales irregularly interposed ; the lower or 

 fertile larger, consisting of numerous sessile 1 - 2-celled pistils, each surrounded 

 by 3-6 scales much like a calyx. Fruit wedge-shaped or club-shaped, more 

 or less corkv toward the summit, the hard endocarp perforated at the apex.— ^ 

 24 



