520 MONOECIA TRIANDRIA 



Hub. Pools, ami swampy springs: frequent. Fl. June-July. Fr. September. 

 Obs. The leaves of this species are used by the Coopers to secure the joints of 

 casks, &,c. from leaking. Dr. Liigeloio says they are much used, also, in the 

 manufacture of chairs— sed qu 7 Is it not the culms of Scirpus umericanus which 

 arc generally used for that purpose? Poor people Sometimes collect the Iruit, 

 with its hairy involucels, from the mature spikes, for the purpose of filling beds ; 

 but it is both unhealthy ana unpleasant,— and far inferior to clean oats chart', or 

 cut straw. 



2. T. axoustifolta, /,. Leaves linrar, scmic) lindric and channeled 

 near the baso; staminatc and pistillate spikes distant, Beck. Bot 

 p. 3S0. 



Narrow-leaved Typha. Vulgo— Lesser Cat-tail. 



Root perennial. Culm 3 to 5 feet high, slender, simple, terete, striate, smooth, 

 leafy at base. Leaves al>out as long as the culm, and 1 sixth to 1 third of an inch 

 wide, nearly linear, striatenerved, smooth, channeled or concavo-convex near 

 the base, sheathing the culm below. Flutters as in the preceding,— but the stain- 

 inate and pistillate spikes much more slender (1 fourth to 1 third of an inch in 

 diameter), and interrupted in the middle by a naked space of 1 to 2 inches between 

 them. 



Hub. Ponds, and wet places; near Unionvillc: rare. Fl. June. Fr. Aug— Sept. 

 Obs. Collected in the aU>ve locality, by Dr. Thomas Seal; but it is much 

 more rare than the preceding. TheM are thoonly species known in the U. States ; 

 and are common to Europe and America. 



417. SPARGANIUM. L. Mitt. Gen. 731. 

 {Greek, Sparganon, a fillet, or bandage; from its ribband-like leaves.] 



Florets in dense globose heads, the staminatc oneg above. Stamiw- 

 atk Fl. Perianth 3 to 6-leaved. Pistillate Fl. Perianth 3 to 

 G-leaved. Drupe turbinate, acuminate, dry, I or 2-seedcd. 



Herbaceous aquatics: stems leafy, often flexuose ; leaves alternate, simple; 

 flowers in sessile heads. Ao/. Ord. 205. LindL TrrHACB.fi. 



1. S. americaxum, Nutt. Stem nearly simple ; lower leaves equal 

 with or exceeding the stem, the floral ones concave at base, and erect ; 

 stigma simple, ovoid-oblong, oblique, scarcely half as long as the style. 

 Beck, Hot. p. 380. 



S. simplex. Mnhl. Cat ah p. 82. Pitrsh, Am. 1. p. 34. Bart. Phil. 



2. p. 149. Not? of Willd. Pen. and Ait. 



America* Sparganium. Vulgo — Bur-rccd. 



Root perennial. Stem 9 to 13 inches high, flexuose, terete, smooth, simple, or 

 often with 2 or 3 short axillary branches at summit. Leaves 6 to 24 inches long 

 (mostly overtopping the stem), and 1 quarter to half an inch wide, smooth, thick 

 and cellular, sub-linear, flat towards the apex, a little tapering but obtuse, the 

 lower ones keeled and subtriquctrous-concave at base, the upper ones concave at 

 base. Heads of flowers globose, the lower ones axillary, or bracteate at base,— 

 the staminate ones 4 or 5 to 9, situated above, sessile, somewhat contiguous in 2's, 

 or 3'a,— the pistillate ones 2 to 5 (usually 3), yellow ish green, larger than the stam- 

 inate ones (half an inch to 3 quarters in diameter), sessile, except the lowest one 

 which is often pedunculate, or terminal on a short axillary branch. Perianth of 

 the florets of 3 to 3 or G sputuiate*obiong, and sub-linear, scarious leaflets. Stigma 



