SECTION III 

 REEDS, GRASSES, SEDGES AND RUSHES 



BROAD-LEAVED CAT-TAIL 



Typha latifolia. Cat-tail Family 



Stems: stout Leaves: nearly equalling or exceeding the stems,' 

 linear, flat, ensiform, with sheathing base. Flowers: very numerous in 

 dense, terminal spikes. Fruit: nut-like, small, usually splitting on one 

 side. 



A common marsh plant, with long, ribbon-like leaves, and 

 a tall stem surmounted by a dense, dark-brown flower spike. 

 The old Italian Masters frequently painted the Cat-tail in 

 the hand of the Saviour as a mock-sceptre in their pictures 

 of the Crowning of the Christ with Thorns. It is often 

 confused with the Bulrush (Scirpus). 



SIMPLE-STEMMED BUR-REED 



Sparganium simplex. Bur-Reed Family 



Stems: erect or floating. Leaves: more or less triquetrous, linear, al- 

 ternate. Flowers: densely crowded in blobose heads at the upper part 

 of the stem. Fruit: nut-like, one-celled. 



In bogs, and at the edge of mountain ponds and streams, 

 this common Bur-reed is very abundant. It may readily be 

 recognized, so perfectly does its name describe its two chief 

 characteristics, namely its bur-like brownish flower-heads, 

 and reed-like stems. 



81 



