Var. robustus, Engelm. Stems stout, tall (2--4 high), bearing numerous 5--8-flowered light-brown heads in a large much-branched panicle; flowers small (1--1{1/5}" long); ovoid capsule scarcely longer than the sepals.--Deep swamps, Ill. to Mo. and La.

[+][+][+] _Heads few, crowded, of numerous flowers._

[++] _Stamens 3; stem rigid from a thick white horizontal rootstock._

23. J. brachycarpus, Engelm. Stem erect (1--2 high), bearing about 2 leaves and 2--10 densely flowered spherical heads (4--5" wide) in a slightly spreading crowded panicle much exceeding the involucral leaf; flowers pale green (2" long); sepals lance-linear, awl-pointed, the 3 outer much longer than the inner, and the ovoid pointed 1-celled capsule rather shorter; anthers much shorter than the filaments; style very short; seeds ({1/5}" long) abruptly apiculate.--Moist places in open woods and prairies, Ohio and Mich. to Mo., Miss., and Tex.

24. J. scirpodes, Lam. Stem erect (1--3 high), rather slender, bearing about 2 terete leaves with wide and open sheaths, and a panicle of few or many densely-flowered pale-green spherical heads, much longer than the involucral leaf, its branches erect and often elongated; heads (3--4" wide) 15--40-flowered; flowers 1--1" long; sepals rigid, awl-shaped and (especially the outer) bristly pointed, at length pungent, as long as the stamens and nearly equalling the oblong-triangular taper-pointed 1-celled capsule; anthers very small; style elongated or very short, seeds ovoid, abruptly pointed at each end (" long).--Wet sandy soil, Ma.s.s. to N. J. and S. C., west to Ind., Mo., and Tex.

Var. echinatus, Engelm. Stouter; leaves terete; branches of the compact panicle short; heads larger (5--6" wide), 40--80-flowered; flowers 1--2" long); sepals narrower and more sharply pointed, the outer a little longer than the inner; stamens shorter and anthers longer than in the preceding, and seeds rather smaller and more slender.--Md. to Fla.

Var. polycephalus, Engelm. Much stouter; leaves laterally flattened (3--6" wide); panicle spreading, branched, bearing many distant heads as large as in the last; flowers 2--2" long; the 3 outer sepals the longer; anthers about as long as the filaments; seeds larger ({1/3}"

long).--S. Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.

[++][++] _Stamens 6._

25. J. nodsus, L. Stem erect (6--15' or 2 high), slender from a creeping thread-like and tuber-bearing rootstock, mostly with 2 or 3 slender leaves; heads few or several, rarely single, 8--20-flowered (3--4" wide), overtopped by the involucral leaf; flowers brown (1--2" long); sepals lance-linear, awl-pointed (the 3 outer mostly a little shorter), nearly as long as the slender triangular taper-pointed 1-celled capsule; anthers oblong, shorter than the filaments; style very short; seeds (about " long) obovate, abruptly mucronate.--Swamps and gravelly banks, N. J. and Penn. to N. Ind. and Iowa, and northward.--July, Aug.--Var. MEGACePHALUS, Torr. Stem stout (1--3 high), with thick leaves; heads few and large (6--8" wide), 30--80-flowered; flowers pale green (2--2" long); outer sepals longest; anthers linear, shorter than the filaments.--Western N. Y. to Minn. and Mo., and westward.

[*][*] _Seeds caudate._

[+] _Stamens 3._

26. J. Canadensis, J. Gay. Tufted stems erect, terete, smooth, bearing 2--3 leaves; heads few- or many-flowered, paniculate; sepals lanceolate, the 3 outer shorter than the inner, not much longer than the stamens, equal to or shorter than the triangular-prismatic almost 1-celled usually short-pointed capsule; style mostly short; seeds more or less distinctly tail pointed, delicately many ribbed.--Common almost everywhere. Aug., Sept. Easily distinguished by its late flowering from the similar n. 22. Very variable.

Var. longicaudatus, Engelm. Stem stout and rigid (1--3 high), bearing in a decompound somewhat spreading panicle the numerous 5--50-flowered heads; flowers greenish or light brown (1--2" long); sepals awl-pointed, mostly shorter than the abruptly short-pointed capsule; seeds slender ({2/3}--1" long), conspicuously tail-pointed.--Ma.s.s. to S. C., west to Minn. and La. The most common form.

Var. subcaudatus, Engelm. Stem slender, often dec.u.mbent (1--2 high), bearing in simpler spreading panicles fewer 8--20-flowered heads; flowers greenish, as large as in the last; sepals awl-shaped, but not so rigid; capsule mostly tapering; seeds large (--{2/3}" long), with short white membranous appendages, not reticulated.--Conn. to Penn. and Ga.

Var. brachycephalus, Engelm. Stem slender (1--2 high), bearing numerous small 3--5-flowered heads in a large spreading panicle; flowers greenish or light brown (1--1" long); sepals mostly obtuse, shorter than the brown abruptly short-pointed capsule; style longer than in other forms; seeds smaller (--{1/3}" long), slender, with rather short appendages.--Penn. and western N. Y., to Wisc. and Ill.

Var. coarctatus, Engelm. Stem slender, shorter (9--18' high), bearing fewer deep-brown 3--5-flowered heads in a somewhat erect contracted panicle; flowers as large as in the last; sepals acute, or rarely obtusish, much shorter than the prismatic abruptly pointed deep-brown capsule; seeds as in the last.--N. Eng. to N. J., N. Minn., and westward.

[+][+] _Stamens 6._

27. J. asper, Engelm. Stems tufted, erect (2--3 high), terete, stout, rigid, and with the rigid leaves rough; panicle with rigid slightly spreading branches, bearing scattered few- (2--6-) flowered heads; flowers greenish with brown (2" long); sepals ovate-lanceolate, awl-pointed, rigid and strongly nerved, the outer much shorter than the inner, these a little shorter than the triangular-ovoid beaked incompletely 3-celled brown capsule, ovary tapering into a conspicuous style; seeds large, oblong, with white or often reddish appendages (1"

long).--Sphagnous swamps, N. J. Aug.

2. LuZULA, DC. WOOD-RUSH.

Capsule 1-celled, 3-seeded, one seed to each parietal placenta.--Perennials, often hairy, usually in dry ground, with flat and soft usually hairy leaves, and spiked-crowded or umbelled flowers. (From _Gramen Luzulae_, or _Luxulae_, dim. of _lux_, light,--a name given to one of the species from its shining with dew.)

[*] _Pedicels 1-flowered, in a loose compound cyme or umbel._

1. L. vernalis, DC. Plant 6--9' high; leaves lance-linear, hairy; _umbel mostly simple_; sepals pointed, shorter than the obtuse capsule; seeds with a curved appendage, (L. pilosa, _Willd_.)--Woods and banks, Newf.

to the mountains of N. C., west to Minn. (Eu.)

2. L. spadicea, DC., var. melanocarpa, Meyer. Nearly smooth (1--3 high); leaves broadly linear; _corymb decompound, loose; pedicels drooping_; sepals pointed, straw-color, about the length of the minutely pointed and brown capsule; seeds not appendaged. (L. parviflora, var.

melanocarpa, _Gray_.)--Mountains of Maine, Vt., and northern N. Y., to Mich. and N. Minn. (Eu.)

[*][*] _Flowers crowded in spikes or close cl.u.s.ters. (Plants 6--12'

high.)_

3. L. campestris, DC. _Leaves flat, linear; spikes 4--12, somewhat umbelled_, ovoid, straw-color, some of them long-peduncled, others nearly sessile; sepals bristle-pointed, longer than the obtuse capsules; seeds with a conical appendage at base.--Dry fields and woods, common.

May. (Eu.)

4. L. arcuata, Meyer. _Leaves channelled_, linear; _spikes 3--5, on unequal often recurved peduncles_, ovoid, chestnut-brown; bracts ciliate-fringed; sepals taper-pointed, longer than the obtuse capsule; seeds not appendaged.--Alpine summits of the White Mts. and far northward. (Eu.)

5. L. spicata, Desvaux. _Leaves channelled_, narrowly linear; _flowers in sessile cl.u.s.ters, forming a nodding interrupted spiked panicle_, brown; sepals bristle-pointed, scarcely as long as the abruptly short-pointed capsule; seeds merely with a roundish projection at base.--With the last, and more common. (Eu.)

ORDER 122. TYPHaCEae. (CAT-TAIL FAMILY.)

_Marsh or aquatic herbs, with nerved and linear sessile leaves, and moncious flowers on a spadix or in heads, dest.i.tute of proper floral envelopes._ Ovary 1--2-celled, with as many persistent styles and (usually elongated) 1-sided stigmas; cells 1-ovuled. Fruit nut-like when ripe, 1-seeded, rarely 2-seeded. Seed suspended, anatropous; embryo straight in copious alb.u.men. Root perennial.

1. Typha. Flowers in a cylindrical compact terminal spike, spathe-like bract deciduous.

2. Sparganium. Flowers in globular heads with foliaceous bracts.

1. T?PHA, Tourn. (CAT-TAIL FLAG.)

Flowers in a long and very dense cylindrical spike terminating the stem; the upper part consisting of stamens only, inserted directly on the axis, and intermixed with long hairs; the lower part consisting of stipitate 1-celled ovaries, the stipes bearing club-shaped bristles, which form the copious down of the fruit. Nutlets minute, very long-stalked.--Spathes merely deciduous bracts, or none. Root-stocks creeping. Leaves long, sheathing the base of the simple jointless stems, erect, thickish. Flowering in summer. (??f?, the old Greek name.)

1. T. latiflia, L. (COMMON CAT-TAIL.) Stout and tall (4--6 high), the flat sheathing leaves 3--10" broad, exceeding the stem; the staminate and dark brown pistillate parts of the spike (each 3--6' long or more) _usually contiguous_, the latter at length 1' in diameter; _pistillate flowers without bractlets; stigma rhombic-lanceolate; pollen-grains in fours_.--In marshes, throughout N. Am. (Eu.)

2. T. angustiflia, L. Leaves narrower (3--6" broad), taller, somewhat convex on the back; pistillate and staminate inflorescence usually separated by a short interval, the light brown spike becoming 5--6" in diameter; _pollen-grains simple; pistillate flowers with a linear stigma and a hair-like bractlet_ slightly dilated at the summit.--N. Eng. to N. J., west to Mich. and Mo.; less frequent, and mainly near the coast.

(Eu.)

2. SPARGaNIUM, Tourn. BUR-REED.

Flowers collected in separate dense and spherical leafy-bracted heads, which are scattered along the summit of the stem; the upper sterile, consisting merely of stamens, with minute scales irregularly interposed; the lower or fertile larger, consisting of numerous sessile 1--2-celled pistils, each surrounded by 3--6 scales much like a calyx. Fruit wedge-shaped or club-shaped, more or less corky toward the summit, the hard endocarp perforated at the apex.--Rootstocks creeping and stoloniferous; roots fibrous. Stems simple or branching, sheathed below by the base of the linear leaves. Flowering through the summer. (Name from sp???a???, _a fillet_, from the ribbon-like leaves.)

[*] _Fruit sessile, broad and truncate, often 2-seeded; stigmas often 2, elongated; scales rigid, nearly equalling the fruit; erect, with branched inflorescence._

1. S. eurycarpum, Engelm. Stems stout, erect (2--4 high); leaves mostly flat and merely keeled; pistil attenuate into a short style bearing 1 or 2 elongated stigmas; fruit-heads 2--6 or more, 1' wide; fruit many-angled (3--4" long) when mature, with a broad and depressed or retuse summit abruptly tipped in the centre.--Borders of ponds, lakes, and rivers, N. Eng. to Va., west to the Pacific.

[*][*] _Fruit comparatively narrow, and mostly somewhat stipitate, 1-celled, longer than the scales._

2. S. simplex, Huds. _Stems slender, erect_ (--2 high); _leaves more or less triquetrous_ (2--4" wide); fertile heads (1--4) of the usually simple inflorescence often above the axils, sessile or peduncled, 6--8"

wide in fruit; stigma linear, equalling the rather slender style or shorter; nutlets pale, _fusiform_ or narrowly oblong (about 2" long), more or less contracted in the middle.--N. Eng. to N. J., west to Mich., Minn., and northward. (Eu.)

Var. androcladum, Engelm. Stouter (1--3 high), with usually _broader leaves_ (4--9") and _branching inflorescence_, the head or peduncles axillary or nearly so; fruiting _heads_ (1--7) often _larger_ (6--12"

broad), the nutlets 2--3" long. (S. androcladum, _Morong._)--In bogs or shallow water, common; N. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn. and Mo.

Var. angustiflium, Engelm. Very slender; leaves floating, long and narrow (--2" wide), flat; inflorescence simple; heads (4--6" broad) and nutlets smaller.--Mountain lakes and slow streams, N. Y., N. Eng., and northward; sometimes nearly out of water, dwarf and with shorter erect leaves.