CAT-TAIL FAMILY. Typhacese. 



CAT-TAIL FAMILY. Typhacece. 



Perennial marsh herbs with stemless, ribbonlike leaves, 

 and with flowers of two kinds, staminate and pistillate 

 on the same plant, lacking petals or flower-cup. Natu- 

 rally not dependent upon insects for fertilization. 

 Cat-tail ^ ne light oli ve green leaves usually exceed 



Typha latifolia the flower-stem in height. The upper half 

 Yeliow=brown o f the cylindrical flower-spike consists of 

 June-July the s t amenS5 an( i the lower half of the pis- 

 tils ; the abundant, yellow, powdery pollen of the 

 staminate flowers scattering itself over the pistillate 

 flowers below, fertilizes them. 



It is the compact down of the bractless pistillate flowers 

 tipped with red-brown that forms the familiar cat-tail 

 of August and September. At that time only a few 

 lingering remnants of the staminate flowers remain on 

 the withering tip of the stem above. The completely 

 developed cat-tail measures fully 1 inch in diameter. 

 In June it is important to note that the two kinds of 

 flowers are not appreciably separated by a gap as in the 

 next species described. The color of the staminate flow= 

 ers is a variable olive yellow-brown, or brownish yellow, 

 according to age. 



Typha is the Greek Tvcprj, meaning fen or bog, and 

 latifolia refers to the broader leaf of this species. The 

 plant is 4-8 feet high, and is common in swamps every- 

 where. 



The slenderer species known specifically as 

 leaved Cat- tail angustifolia, that is, narrow-leaved, is re- 

 Typha angusti- markable for the distinct and considerable 

 folia separation, on the stem, of the two groups 



Yenow=brown of flowers . this is usua i but not without 

 J u n e J u 1 y 



exception. The structure of the pistillate 



flowers is also different from that of the same flowers on 

 Typha latifolia ; under a glass it will be seen that they 

 possess a hairlike bractlet slightly swollen at the top. 

 This cat-tail is narrow, rarely measuring over f inch in 

 diameter. The plant is 4-9 feet high, and grows, not 

 invariably, near the coast from Me., south ; it is some- 

 times found as far west as Mich, and Mo. ; it is common 



