TYPHACE.t. (cat-tail FAMILY.) 647 



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

 summits of the VVIiite Mts. and far northward. (Ku.) 



5. L. spiC^ta, Desvaux. Leaves channelled, narrowly linear; flowers in 

 sessile clu.sttrs, funning a nodding interrupted spiked panicle, brown ; sepals 

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

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

 mon. (Eu.) 



Okdeu 122. TYPHACEiE. (Cat-tail Family.) 



Marsh or aquatic herbs, with neried and linear sessile leaves, and monce- 

 cious jlowers on a S2)adix or in heads, destitute of proper floral envelopes. 

 Ovary I - 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-sceilod. Seed suspended, auatropous; embryo straight in copious 

 albumen. Root perennial. 



1. Tyi>ha. Flowers in a cylindrical couipact terminal spike; spathe-like bract deciduous. 



2. Spar^aniuui. Flowers in globular heads with foliareous braL-ts. 



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, ami 

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

 ries, the stipes bearing dub-siiaped bristles, which form the copious down of 

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

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

 the simple jointless stems, erect, thickish. Flowering in sunmier. (Ti/^t?, the 

 old Greek name.) 



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

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

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

 rontitjuous, the latter at length V in diameter; pistillate flowers icithout bract- 

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

 out N. Am. (Eu.) 



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

 convex on the back; pistillate and staminate inflorescence usually separated 

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

 grains simple ; pistillate flowers xcith a linear stigma and a hair-lihe 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, 'IV.urn. Rck-hkkd. 



Flowers collected in separate dense and s])herical leafy-bracted heads, which 

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

 merely of stamens, with minute scales irregularly inter])oscd ; 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, nmre 

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



