480 TYPHACE^E. (CAT-TAIL FAMILY.) 



more than 2 or 3 in connection. — Occurs in Arizona and southward : but the 

 true plant seems not to have been detected within our limits. (Eu.) 



2. WOLFFIA, Horkel, Schleiden. 



Flowers central, bursting through the upper surface of the roundish entirely 

 and loosely cellular frond, only 2 ; one pistillate, of a single stamen with a one- 

 celled 2-valved anther ; the other pistillate, a globular ovary, tipped with a very 

 short style and a depressed stigma. Ovule orthotropous, rather oblique in the 

 cell. Pollen-grains smooth. Utricle spherical. Albumen thin. — Fronds root- 

 less, proliferous from a cleft at the base, the offspring soon detached : no rhaph- 

 ides. — The simplest and smallest of flowering plants, from J"- J" long (a new 

 African and Cuban species much larger), floating as little grains on the water. 

 (Named for John Fred. Wolff, who wrote on Lemna in 1801.) 



1. W. Columbiana, Karsten. Frond oval-orbicular, lenticular (\" - J" 

 long), very cavernous, when dry concave and darker green above, sometimes 

 purple beneath, the chink at the base appendaged by an expanded hyaline bor- 

 der ; flowers and fruit not seen. — Floating on stagnant waters with Lemna ; 

 near Dutcher's Bridge, Salisbury, Connecticut, Dr. J. W. Robbins, who discov- 

 ered it many years ago. Orange Co., New York, C. F. Austin. Lake Ontario, 

 J. A. Paine. Also in the Southern States (Louisiana, Riddell, &c.) : probably 

 not rare, but overlooked. The fruiting plant recently discovered by Karsten in 

 Venezuela, according to Hegelmaier, in litt. 



Order 109. TYPHACE.I:. (Cat-tail Family.) 



Marsh or aquatic herbs, with nerved and linear sessile leaves, and monoe- 

 cious flowers on a spadix or in heads, destitute of proper floral envelopes. 

 Ovary tapering into a 6tyle and (usually elongated) 1-sided stigma. 

 Fruit nut-like when ripe, 1-seeded, rarely 2-seeded. Seed suspended, 

 anatropous : embryo straight in copious albumen. Root perennial. — 

 Comprises only the two following genera. 



1. TYPHA, Tourn. Cat-tail Flag. 



Flowers in a long and very dense cylindrical spike terminating the stem ; the 

 upper part consisting of stamens only, intermixed with long hairs, and inserted 

 directly on the axis ; the lower or fertile part consisting of ovaries, surrounded 

 by club-shaped bristles, which form the copious down of the fruit. Nutlets 

 minute, very long-stalked. — Spathes merely deciduous bracts, or none. Root- 

 stocks creeping. Leaves long, sheathing the base of the simple jointless stems, 

 erect, thickish. Flowering in summer. (Name from ricjios, a fen.) 



1. T. latifblia, L. (Commox Cat-tail or Reed-mace.) Leaves flat. : 

 staminate and pistillate parts of the spike approximate. Common. (Eu.) 



2. T. angUStif61ia, L. (Nakrow-leaved or Small C.) Leaves chan- 

 nelled towards the base, narrpiclg linear; staminate and pistillate parts of the spike 

 usually separated by an interval. A rarer and smaller plant. (Eu.) 



