TYPHACE.E. 



775 



LXXIV. THE BULRUSH FAMILY. TYPHACEiE. 



Eeed-like marsh or aquatic herbs, with long, linear leaves. 

 Flowers monoecious, in dense spikes or globular clusters, with- 

 out any perianth. Ovary tapering into a slender, simple style. 

 Fruit a small, seed-like nut, with a single pendulous seed. Em- 

 bryo straight, in a copious albumen. 



A family limited to the two British genera. 



Flowers in long, dense, cylindrical spikes 1. Bulrush. 



Flowers in distinct globular heads 2. Spaeganium. 



I, BULRUSH. TYPHA. 



Flowers in a long, very dense, cylindrical and simple spike, termi- 

 nating the stem, the upper part consisting of stamens only, intermixed 

 with hairs, the lower part more dense, with minute ovaries, surrounded 

 by numerous hairs. Nuts very small, enveloped in a copious down. 



A small genus, spread over the greater part of the globe. 

 Male flowers close above the females, in an uninterrupted 



spike 1. Great B. 



Male and female parts of the spike separated by a short interval 



without flowers 2. Lesser B. 



1. Great Bulrush. Typha latifolia, Linn. (Fig. 931.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1455. Bulrush. Cat's-tail. Reedmace.) 



Eootstock shortly creeping, with erect, 

 reed-like stems, 3 to 6 feet high. Leaves 

 very long, erect and linear, sheathing at 

 the base, but flat in the greater part of 

 their length. Flowers in a continuous 

 spike, often more than a foot long, the 

 upper male portion rather thicker when 

 in flower, yellow with the very nume- 

 rous closely packed, linear anthers ; the 

 minute ovaries of the lower part as 

 closely packed, and enveloped in tufts 

 of soft, brownish hairs. When in fruit, 

 the upper part of the spike is a bare 

 stalk, whilst the lower part has thick- 

 ened by the enlargement of the nuts, 

 still enveloped in the rusty down, 



On the margins of ponds, lakes, and 

 watery ditches, nearly all over the globe, 

 except the extreme north and south. -^g- 931. 



