20 KEY AND FLORA 



CLASS II. ANGIOSPERMS 



Plants with a closed ovary, in which the seeds are matured. 

 Cotyledons 1 or 2. 



SUBCLASS I. MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 



Stems with the fibrovascular bundles scattered among the 

 parenchyma cells ; in perennial plants no annual rings of wood. 

 Leaves usually parallel-veined, alternate, nearly always entire. 

 Parts of the flower generally in threes (never in fives). Coty- 

 ledon 1. 



2. TYPHACE^. Cat-Tail Family 



Perennial marsh or aquatic plants. Rootstock stout, creep- 

 ing ; stem simple, cylindrical, erect. Leaves simple, strap- 

 shaped, sheathing at the base, nerved and striate. Flowers 

 monoecious, in a single terminal spike, staminate part of the 

 spike uppermost, each part subtended by spathe-like deciduous 

 bracts. Perianth of fine bristles. Staminate flowers sessile, 

 stamens 2-7; filaments connate, subtended by minute bracts. 

 Pistillate flowers short-pediceled. Ovary 1-2-celled; styles 

 1-2. Fruit small, nut-like.* 



TYPHA L. 



Characters of the family. 



1. T. latifolia L. Cat-Tail. Stem erect, jointed below, 5-8 ft. 

 high. Leaves nearly as long as the stem, about 1 in. wide, netted 

 and with a bloom. Spike cylindrical, dark brown or black ; staminate 

 portion above the pistillate, usually without any interval between 

 them, each 4-8 in. long and about 1 in. in diameter. Fruit furrowed. 

 Common in marshes and shallow ponds.* 



