Sparganium Ramosum, Great Bur-Reed. 



SPARGANIUM Lin. Gen. PL Monoecia TriAndria. 



Masc. Amentum fubrotundum. Cal. 3-phyllus. Cor. o. 



Fem. Amentum fubrotundum. Cal. 3-phyllus. Cor. o. Stigma 

 2-fidum. Brupa exfucca, l-fperma. 



Rait Syn. Graminifoli^e non culmifer^e singulares et sui generis. 



SPARGANIUM ramojum foliis bafi triangularibus, lateribus concavis, pedunculis ramofis. 



SPARGANIUM ereUum foliis erectis triquetris. Lin. Syfi. Vegetal, p. 702. Sp. PI. p. 1378. 



Fl. Suec. n. 831. 



SPARGANIUM caule foliifque eredis. Halter hifi. 1303. 



SPARGANIUM .eretlum. Scopoli Fl. Cam. n. 1146. 



SPARGA.NIUM ramofum. Bauh. Pin. 15. Ger. emac. 45. Parkin/. 1205. Rail Syn. 437. 

 Branched Bur- Reed. Hudfon Fl. Angl. ed. 2. p. 401. Lightfoot Fl. Scot. p. 539. 



RADIX perennis, repens, radiculis fibrillis numero- |> ROOT perennial, and creeping, the fmall roots 

 Tiflimis inftructis. | furnifhed with very numerous fibres. 



CULMUS bipedalis, tripedalis, et ultra, ereftus, <i> STALK two, three feet high, or more, upright, 

 teres, glaber, foliofus, foliis tribus circiter, | round, fmooth, leafy, leaves about three in 



prater braclaeas. <r> number befides the floral leaves. 



FOLIA radicalia erecla, faturate viridia, culmo duplo | LEAVES next the root upright, of a deep green co- 

 fere longiora, bafi vaginantia, equitantia, <> lour, almoft twice the length of the Hem, 

 paulo fupra bafin fere ad apicem ufque tri- f (heathy at bottom and riding one on the 

 quetra, latere interiore planiufculo, duobus § other, from the bafe nearly, almoft to the 

 exterioribus concavis. | top three-cornered, the inner fide almoft flat, 



§ the two outermoft hollow. 



BRACTEyE quatuor circiter, foliis caulinis fubfimiles, | FLORAL-LEAVES about four in number, fome- 

 inferioribus longioribus. ^ what like the leaves of the ftalk, the lower- 



f moft longeft. 



FLORES monoici, in capitula collecti, fpicati. f FLOWERS monoicous, formed into little heads, 



<j> and growing in fpikes. 



PEDUNCULI axiliares, alterni, flexuofi, multiflori, $ FLOWER-STALKS growing from the bofoms of 

 capitulis feffilibus, inferioribus femineis, the leaves, alternate, crooked, fupporting 



duobus aut tribus, fuperioribus mafculis plu- | many flowers, the little heads feflile, the 



ribus; pedunculi fupremi flores mafculos lowermoft ones female, two or three in 



tantum gerunt. f number, the uppermoft ones male, and more 



<i> numerous ; the uppermoft flower-ftalks bear 



I only male flowers. 



CALYX Flor. Mafc. Amentum commune, fubro- ^> CALYX of the Male Flowers. One common roundifh 

 tundum, undique denfiffime imbricatum, 1 Catkin, clofely imbricated on every fide, and 



conftans Perianthiis propriis plerumque tri- <?> compofed of numerous individual Perianthia, 



phyllis, bafi linearibus, apice ovato-acutis, | confifting for the moft part of three leaves, 



deciduis, Jig. 1. au6L $ linear at the bafe, ovate and pointed at top, 



jj and deciduous, Jig. 1. magnified. 



COROLLA nulla. % COROLLA none. 



STAMINA : Fil amenta plerumque tria, capillaria, ^> STAMINA : ufually three capillary Filaments, 

 longitudine calycis ; Anthers oblongae, | the length of the calyx ; Anthers oblong, 



flavss, fig. 2. $ yellow, fig. 2. 



CALYX Flor. Fern. Perianthium ut in mafculo, at | CALYX of the Female Flowers. A Perianthium as 

 bafi latior, magis concavus, nee deciduus, <?> in the males, but broader at the bafe, more 



Jig. 3. jj> concave, and not deciduous, Jig. 3. 



PISTILLUM: Germen oblongo-ovatum, angula- \ PISTILLUM : Germen oblongo-ovate, angular, 

 turn, definens in Stylum brevem fubula- l> terminating in a (hort tapering Style; 



turn; Stigma oblongum ad unum latus \ Stigma oblong, villous on one fide, Jig. 4. 



vilIofum,_y%\ 4. 



PERICARPIUM: Drupa exfucca, turbinata cum | SEED-VESSEL: ajuicelefs Drupe, turban-fhaped 

 acumine, inferne angulata, Jig. 5. <f> and pointed ; angular below, fig. 5. 



SEMEN; Nuces duae, offeae, oblongo-ovatee, Jig. 6. f SEEDS : two bony Nuts, of an oblong ovate (hape, 



The Sparganiwn ramojum having a very ftrong creeping root, is one of thofe plants which very foon fill 

 up a ditch or piece of water, if fuffered to remain unmolefted ; we have not feen it more plentiful any where 

 than in the Ifle of Dogs, the ditches of which are full of it. 



We know of no ufe to which it is applicable. 



The ftalk is liable to be eaten by fome kind of larva whofe hiftory we have not yet difcovered, the leaves 

 by the larva of a Tenthredo unknown to us, as well as by the larva of the Phalcena Fejl.ucce — two of which 

 in their Chryfalis flate, we this year, Auguft 24, 1786, found in a web under the leaves of the plant, in a 

 pond near Maiden in Effex ; and on the leaves of the fame plant, at the fame time and place, Dr. Goobenough 

 and myfelf were fo fortunate as to find two fpecimens of that rare infect the Sphex JiJJipes Linncez. 



The male flowers vary much in the number of their ftamina^ and both forts in the number of the leaves of 

 the calyx. 



In treating of the Typha latijolia, We promifed, when we gave a figure of this plant, to inform our readers 

 whether its feeds vegetated : we have fince then had an opportunity of obferving one of its heads, as it lay 

 in a wet fituation, afi'ume a green colour, which, on a careful examination, it w 7 as found to owe to the feeds 

 having juft begun to vegetate. 



