-_ 
1150 TYPHA. [CLASS XXI. ORDER III. 
they have not been applied to any other use than for packing of 
goods, for which purpose they are well suited, from their smoothness 
and phability, 
GENUS VI. TY'PHA.—Linn. Cat’s-tail, or Reed mace. 
Nat. Ord. TypnHac'rm. Juss. 
Gun. Cuar. lowers in dense cylindrical naked spikes or catkins 
Barren flowers without perianth. Stamens three, united at the 
base into a single filament, fertile flowers without perianth. 
Fruit single seeded, pedicellated, the pedicles surrounded at the 
base with long pappus, like hairs—Name from ru?0s, a marsh ; 
from the situation in which they grow. 
1. YL. latifolia, Linn. (Fig. 1383.) Great Reed mace. Leaves 
linear, nearly plane; barren and fertile spikes continuous. 
English Botany, t. 1455.—IEnglish Flora, vol. iv. p. 71—Hooker, 
British Flora, ed. 4. vol i. p. 829.—Lindley, Synopsis, p. 247. 
Root stout, creeping, with long fibrous branches, the whole plant 
smooth. Stem erect, about six feet high, round, straight, and simple, 
leafy, especially below. Leaves very long, linear, plane, often an inch 
broad, though usually not so much as that, sheathing at the base, with 
thin membranous margins, finely striated, the point obtuse. Inflo- 
rescence terminal spikes, the barren and fertile separate, but con- 
tinuous, fertile ones below, very numerous, densely crowded, cylin- 
drical, a dark brown, almost black, with a greenish tinge. Style 
long, capillary, swollen upwards into a stigma. J ruit stalked, sur- 
rounded at the base with several pappus-like hairs, barren spike 
terminal, of numerous crowded stamens, the filament bearing three 
anthers, frequently at the base of the spike, and also above are thin 
membranous bractea, like scales, often two inches long. 
Habitat-—Borders of ponds and lakes. 
Perennial; flowering in July and August. 
The plants of this genus are called Reed-mace, from the spikes 
resembling a, mace, the emblem of magisterial office. The pollen is 
very inflammable, and used for the same purposes in the manufactory 
of fireworks, as the pollen of the Lycopodiums. The leaves are used 
for making chair bottoms, and by coopers to put between the staves 
of their casks, to make them tight and waterproof. 
2. T. angustifolia, Linn, (Fig. 13884.) Lesser Reed-mace. Leaves 
linear, grooved below; sterile and fertile spike a little distant from 
each other. 
English Botany, t. 1456.—English Flora, vol. iv. p 72.—Hooker, 
British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 330.—Lindley, Synopsis, p, 247. 
