238 TYPHACE.E. Sparcjaniam. 



Order CXII. TYPHACEiE. 



Aquatic perennial liorbs, witli creeping routstocks, cylindric solid steins, alternate 

 linear entire sessile leaves, and inona'ci'uus llowers in heads or on a spadix, Avitliout 

 perianth, the upper spikes staniiniferous ; stamens and ovaries intermixed with 

 bristles or scales; anthers linear, longitudinally dehiscent; ovaries 1 - 2-celled, 

 1-ovuled, with a slender style and 1-sided stigmas, becoming dry and nut-like ; seeds 

 pendulous, anatropous, with copious albumen and a straight axile embryo. — Oidy 

 two genera, scarcely reaching California. 



1. Spargaiiium. Flowers in f^lobular heads with foliaceoiis bracts. 



2. Typha. I'lowers in a c^'liiuhical coniiiact terminal sjiike : spatlie-like bract ileciiliious. 



1. SPARGANIUM, Tourn. Bi:ri-ui;Ei). 



Flowers in dense separate globose heads on a leafy-bracted simple or branching 



spadix, the upper heads staminate. Stamens with slender elongated iilaments, 



mingled with minute scales. Ovaries sessile, 1 -2-celled, surrounded by 3 to G 



very narrowly linear-subulate scales. Fruit indehiscent, wedge-shaped or clavate. 



Seed ovoid, smooth. 



Four or live species are widely distributed through the cold and temperate ref,'ions of the 

 northern hemisphere. 



1. S. simplex, Hudson. Stem erect, a foot high or more, rather slender, with 

 simple inlluresceiice : leaves triangular or ilattened, exceeding the stem (often 2 or 3 

 feet long, and as many lines broad) : heads 2 to 4 of each kind, the lower often 

 above the axils, and sessile or pedunculate ; the sterile very small : stigmas single, 

 linear or oblong : fruit nearly terete, attenuate at each end, 3 or 4 lines long in- 

 cluding the linear style: scales half as long. — Keichenb. Icon. Fl. Cerm. ix. 

 t. 325. 



In the Sierra Nevada from Mono Pass to Oregon and northward, and eastward across the conti- 

 nent ; also European. Several varieties are described. July to September. 



2. S. eurycarpum, Engelin. Erect, stout, 2 to 4 feet high, with branching 

 inflorescence : leaves mostly flat : heads 2 to G or more : fruit sessile, wedge-shaped 

 and many-angled, 3 or 4 lines long, with a broad dejjressed summit (2i to 3| lines 

 wide), abruptly tipped with the sliort style. — Gray, Manual, 481. 



In the Humboldt River, Nevada (JFatson), and northward, and eastward across the continent. 



2. TYPHA, Tourn. Cat-taii. Flag. 

 Flowers in a dense cylindrical terminal spike. Stamens with very short connate 

 filaments, mixed witli numerous long hairs. Ovaries long-stipitate, 1 -celled, sur- 

 rounded by numerous bristles and clavate rudimentary ovaries. Styles liliform. 

 Fruit minute, usually splitting on one side. Seed linear, striate. — The staminate 

 and pistillate portions of the spike are either contiguous or separate, naked or sub- 

 tended by a spathe-like deciduous bract. 



A genus of about species, distributed through tlie tropical and temperate regions of the globe. 

 The roots are farinuccou.s, and the tough Hat leaves are used for various domestic purposes. 



. 1. T. latifolia, Linn. Stout and tall, 4 to G feet high, the flat sheathing leaves 

 3 to G lines broad or more, exceeding the stetn : pistillate and staminate parts of the 

 spike each 3 to G inches long, usually contiguous, the pistillate dark brown with 

 the crowded rhombic-lanceolate stigmas, and at length an inch in diameter ; jiistil- 



