Ttpha. TYPHACE^. 247 



Order CVIII. TYPHACEtE. Juss. The Cat-tail Tribe. 



Flowers in dense spikes or heads, monoecious, without a perianth, but inter- 

 mixed with scales or bristles. Stamens numerous ; the filaments distinct, or 

 united below : anthers erect, 2-celled. Ovary 1-celled, with a single sus- 

 pended anatropous ovule : style simple : stigma lanceolate, unilateral. Fruit 

 dry and indehiscent. Seed with a thin membranaceous testa : embryo straight, 

 in the axis of fleshy albumen. — Aquatic or marsh plants, with alternate linear 

 entire leaves, the bases of which at first sheathe the inflorescence like a spathe, 



1. TYPHA. Linn. ; L. C. Rich, in Guill. arch, de hot. 1. p. 193 t. 5 ; Endl. gen. 1709. 



CAT-TAIL. REED-MACE. 

 [Typhos is the Greek name for a bog-marsh.] 



Flowers in a long dense cylindrical spike. Sterile fl. above naked : stamens numerous, 

 intermixed with simple hairs, inserted directly on the rachis or axis ; the filaments slender, 

 simple, or 2 - 3 - 4-forked at the summit. Fertile fl. on the same axis with the sterile, 

 and immediately below them, or with a naked part of the axis between. Ovaries numerous, 

 either seated immediately on the rachis, or several together on little processes of the same, 

 surrounded with numerous clavate bristles. Fruit oblong, very small, stipitate. — Marsh 

 plants, with a thick creeping rhizoma, and simple, cylindrical, culm-like stalks which are 

 destitute of joints. Leaves erect, very long, 



1. Typha latifolia, Linn. Broad-leaved Cat-tail. Reed-mace. 



Leaves somewhat cuneiform, nearly flat ; sterile and fertile spikes closely approximated. — 

 Linn. sp. 2. p. 971 ; Engl. hot. t. 1455 ; Pursh, fl.l.p.Si; Ell. sk. 2. p. 520 ; Bigel. 

 Jl. Bost. p. 339 ; Torr. compend. p. 333 ; L. C. Rich. I. c. ; Beck, hot. p. 380 ; Darlingt. 

 fl. Cast. p. 519 ; Kunth, enum. 3. p. 90. 



Stems clustered, 4-5 feet high, leafy at the base. Leaves about three-fourths of an inch 

 wide. Inflorescence consisting of two closely approximated spikes or spadices on the upper 

 part of one scape ; the flowers of both kinds innumerable. Sterile spike appearing shaggy 

 from the projecting stamens. Anthers linear, yellowish-brown. Fertile spike 6-8 lines in 

 diameter, of a brownish color, very dense. 



Borders of ponds and swamps : common. Fl. June - July. Fr. September. The leaves 

 are used for making the bottoms of chairs, but not so frequently as those of the Scirpus 

 triqueter ; and also by coopers, who place them between the staves of casks to prevent 

 leakage. The hairs of the fruit are also employed as a substitute for feathers in beds, but 

 they are heavy, and soon iose their elasticity. The plant is found in most parts of the world. 



