THE BULRUSH FAMILY. 413 



one-seeded. There are only two genera comprised in this family, and 

 perhaps not more than a dozen species, though verj'' generally diffused 

 in the northern parts of the world. Six are accounted wild in Britain, 

 Manchester possessing five of them. 



A. 

 Flowers in dense cylindrical spikes, which are a foot or more in length, resem- 

 bling clubs, the upper or male half formed of innumerable yellowish anthers ; 

 the lower or female half of innumerable minute ovaries, packed as closely as 

 the stamens, and enveloped in tufts of soft brownish hairs, which render the 

 mass velvety both to the eye and to the finger. 



1. Spike uninterrupted, the male portion commencing immediately upon 



the termination of the female. Leaves flat. Stems two to five feet 

 high. Club an inch in diameter Common Buleush. 



2. Upper or male half of the spike separated from the female portion by 



about an inch of naked stem. Leaves somewhat concave in front. Whole 

 plant smaller and slenderer than the preceding Small Bulrush. 



B. 



Flowers in dense globular heads, which vary from half an inch to an inch in 

 diameter, and are disposed rather distantly upon the upper portion of the 

 plant, so as to form a small panicle or raceme. Upper heads all male, the 

 stamens with long, white, flaccid filaments ; the lower heads all female, larger 

 than the males, and composed of a number of firm, green, sessile, pointed, and 

 prominent ovaries. Leaves shooting considerably above the inflorescence. 



3. Stem two feet high, the flowering portion branched, and every branch 



bearing several heads Common Water-buer. 



Stem simple. 



4. Stem and leaves erect, rising out of the water. . Small unbeanched Watee-bure. 



5. Leaves floating, pellucid. Flower-heads very few, the male generally 



solitary Floating Watee-bure. 



HABITATS AND LOCALITIES. 



1. Common Bulrush — [Typha latifolia.) 



Ponds and marshy places, common. Abundant on the borders of 

 Rostherne Mere, and of Mere Mere. Pond in Ashley Wood, Sale. 

 Cotterill. High Legh. Fl. July. 



Curtis, i. 200 (as Tijpha major) ; E. B. xxi. 1455. 



2. Small Bulrush — {Typha angustlfulia.) 



Similar situations, but less common. Rostherne Mere. Mere Mere. 

 Longsight. Chorlton fields. Fl. July. 



Curtis, i. 207 (a^ Ty])ha minor); E. B. xxi. 1456; Baxter, v. 377. 



