Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/783

Typha.] 1. T. angustifolia, ''Linn. Sp. Plant.'' 971.—Very variable in stature, 3–8 ft. high or more. Leaves as long as the flowering-stems or sometimes exceeding them, rather narrow, ⅕–½ in. broad, rarely more, expanded at the base into a broad sheath often more than a foot in length, plano-convex or convex on both sides. Spike variable in length; male portion usually from 2 to 6 in. long, in some varieties contiguous to the female part, in others separated from it by an interval sometimes as much as 1 in. long, axis of the spike furnished with reddish-brown hairs mixed with the flowers; female portion 3–8 in. long, ⅓–¾ in. broad. Female flowers furnished at the base with a linear spathulate bracteole, the hairs on the pedicel of the ovary shorter than the stigma.—''A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 99; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 319; Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 238; Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 276. T. latifolia, ''Forst. f. Prodr. n. 336 (not of Linn.); Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 772.

Marsh or aquatic herbs. Rhizome creeping. Stems erect or floating, simple or the inflorescence alone branched. Leaves crowded at the base of the stem, distichous, linear-elongate, erect or floating, sheathing at the base. Flowers monœcious, crowded in superposed usually remotely placed globose heads subtended by leafy bracts; the upper heads male, the lower female. Perianth of 3–8 spathulate membranous scales. Male flowers: Stamens 2–3, rarely more; filaments long or short, distinct or variously connate; anthers linear-oblong, 4-celled, longitudinally dehiscent. Female flowers: Ovary sessile or nearly so, 1–2-celled, produced into 1–2 long or short styles; stigma unilateral; ovule solitary, pendulous. Fruit obovoid, spongy, tipped by the persistent style; endocarp bony. Seed with a membranous testa; albumen farinaceous; embryo axile.