8 
BULLETIN 205, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
borne in great abundance. They ripen in July and August and are 
available to ducks throughout the winter, if the water is not frozen 
over. 
DESCRIPTION OF PLANT. 
A single plant of Thalia divaricata is a stout, one-leaved stalk from 
4 to 15 feet in height, rising from a large tuberlike root, and the stems 
Fig. 5.— Thalia divaricata. 
are usually clustered (fig. 5). The leaf is much like that of canna, is 
stalked, and may measure 5 inches wide and 15 inches long. The 
top of the stalk divides and subdivides into a large fruiting head which 
may bear from 200 to 300 seeds. The ultimate branches of the fruit- 
ing head are strongly zigzag. The flowers and seeds are borne in 
husks, each of which is formed by two purplish 
bracts, one much larger than the other. The oblong 
seeds (fig. 6) are plump and vary in length up to 
three-eighths of an inch. They have thin, closely 
fitting individual husks, are slightly curved, and 
bear numerous longitudinal rows of small irregular elevations which 
are lighter in color than the rest of the surface. 
Fig. 6.— Seeds of thalia. 
DISTRIBUTION. 
Thalia divaricata is native from Florida to southern Arkansas and 
Texas and southward into Mexico, and doubtless it will thrive as far 
