464 Ty phacee. 
Orper IV.—TYPHACEA. 
Semi-aquatic herbs with a creeping rootstock, narrow linear 
sheathing leaves, and spicate or capitate moncecious flowers. 
Perianth none, or reduced to scales or hairs. Stamens definite 
or indefinite. Fruit dry or succulent, 1-celled and 1-seeded. 
There are two British genera of this affinity. 1. Typha, Cat’s- 
tail, Bullrush, or Reed-mace, having the flowers in cylindrical 
spikes, the males at the top. T. latifolia (fig. 224) is a 
striking plant from 3 to 8 feet, in which the male and female 
portions of the spike are contiguous. TZ. angustifolia is a 
smaller species with narrower leaves and a distinct separation 
of the male and female flowers. 2. Sparganiwm, Bur-reed, 
has the flowers in racemes of globose heads furnished with 
large leafy bracts. S. ramdsum with a branched inflorescence, 
and S. simplex with a simple spike, are both common plants. 
Orper V—ALISMACEZ:. 
Aquatic or marsh plants with simple radical leaves and 
leafless flower-scapes. Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual. 
Perianth inferior, all the segments or only the three inner 
coloured, often fugacious. Stamens 6 or 9 or more. Fruit of 
3 to 6 or more dehiscent or indehiscent 1- or more seeded 
carpels. Seeds destitute of albumen. This small order com- 
prises about 50 widely dispersed species. Besides the following 
there are about half a dozen other British species, the most 
conspicuous of which are the Water Plantains (Alisma). A. 
Pluntago is the common conspicuous species with erect 
lanceolate ribbed leaves on long stalks, and a tall panicled 
scape with whorled branches bearing small fugacious flowers of 
which the three inner segments are pale rose colour. 
1. SAGITTARIA. 
A genus of several tropical and temperate species of aquatic 
plants. The name is from sagitta, an arrow, from the form of 
the leaves in the earliest known species. 
