CAT-TAIL FAMILY. Typhaceae, 



CAT-TAIL FAMILY. Typhacece. 



Perennial marsh herbs with stemless, ribbonlike leaves, 

 and with flowers of two kinds, st jninate and pistillate 

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

 rally not dependent upon insects for fertilization . 

 ^ .| The light olive green leaves usually exceed 



Tyijha latifoiia the flower-stem in height. The upper half 

 Yellow=brown of the cj'lindrical flower-spike consists of 

 June-July ^j-^g stamens, and the low^er half of the pis- 

 tils ; the abundant, yellow, powdery pollen of the 

 staminate flow^ers 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 tw^o 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 bro\vnish yellow, 

 according to age. 



Typha is the Greek Tvcpr/, meaning fen or bog, and 

 latifoiia refers to the broader leaf of this species. The 

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

 where. 



The slenderer species knowm specifically as 

 leaved Cat=tail ^^^9'^*^^*/^^*^' ^^^^ i^' narrow-leaved, is re- 

 Tijpha angusti- markable for the distinct and considerable 

 /^>''« separation, on the stem, of the two groups 



Yellow>brown ^^ flowers ; this is usual, but not without 

 June-July 



exception. The structure of the pistillate 



flowers is also different from that of the same flowers on 

 Typha latifoiia ; 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 



