THE BULRUSH— continued. 
among Monocotyledons, both stem and leaves are free from hairs. The most 
distinctive feature of the Family is, however, the long, dense, cylindrical spikes of 
the flowers. Thus in his “Names of Herbes ” (1548) William Turner writes : — 
“Typha groweth in fennes Sc water sydes among the reedes, it hath a blacke thinge Almost at the head of the stalke 
lyke blacke veluet. It is called in englishe cattes tayle, or a Reedmace, in Duche Narren Kolb, or Mosz Kolb.” 
The lower cylindrical portion of the spike, which is rather of a rich dark brown 
than black, at least when young, consists of the carpellate flowers, while the tapering 
yellowish upper portion is made up of the staminate ones, and withers and disappears 
after the discharge of the pollen. Below the staminate flowers are a few scattered 
deciduous scale-like bracts, and each flower is surrounded by numerous slender 
bristle-like hairs, which may be termed a perianth. There are generally three long 
straight yellow anthers with very short filaments and slightly projecting points or 
connectives ; but they are united below on a short stalk, and there has been some 
controversy as to their developmental history or morphology. 
The carpellate flowers are borne on short stalks which spread horizontally from 
the main axis and are surrounded by the numerous hairs which produce the velvety 
appearance of the spike. The one seed in each ovary is said to be the apex of the 
flower-stalk, the ovary growing up round it as a single tubular carpel. The ovaries 
that bear seed are tapering at both ends and are surmounted by a slender style and 
a lanceolate stigma ; but there are also a number of shorter and broader ovaries with 
hardly any style, which come to nothing. They have been called “ rudimentary” ; 
but “vestigial ” would probably be a more accurate term. 
Typha latifolia is our largest herbaceous aquatic plant, often growing from six to 
eight feet in height. Its nearly flat leaves are about an inch across and nearly as long 
as the stem, and are covered with a slight glaucous waxy bloom. The brown 
velvety spikes are nearly a foot in length ; in their early stage there is no gap 
between the “ fertile ” or carpellate and the “ barren ” or staminate portions, but, 
when the wind has carried the pollen to the stigmas of some other individual and 
the stamens have withered, the velvety spike of fertile flowers increases to an 
inch or more in diameter ; and ultimately as the ripe fruits split open it breaks up 
into a mass of loose down and dry capsules. 
As the decision as to the use of a popular name at any period must rest with 
the users, we have ventured to call this plant the Bulrush, rather than Cat’s-tail or 
Reed-mace, since undoubtedly it is most commonly called by the first name, though 
that formerly belonged to a very different plant, Scirpus lacustris L. Parkinson 
proposed to call it “ Torch-reed,” and mentions the use of its leaves to make mats 
and children’s chairs, from which it got the name of “Mat-reed.” “Livers” or 
“ Levers,” possibly the first half of the name of Liverpool, it shares with other 
sword-leaved plants; but the prettiest of its many appellations is Gerard’s “Lance 
for a lad.” 
