keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

TYPHA/TYPHACEAE
1137
REFERENCES: Wilson 1909; Müller-Doblies 1970; Dahlgren et al. 1985; Thieret & Luken 1996;
Kubitzki 1998b; Smith 2000.
TYPHA L. CAT-TAIL
Coarse perennial herbs of wet areas, typically emergent, to ca. 3+ m tall, forming clumps or
mats from rhizomes; aerial shoots erect, simple, � elliptic in cross section; leaves alternate, the
sheath tubular, with overlapping margins and continuous with the grass-like blade which is
internally spongy with prominent transverse partitions; inflorescence dense, terminal, spikelike
(subsequently referred to as spikes), each inflorescence potentially producing hundreds of
thousands of seeds (Smith 2000), the many crowded flowers making a felty, brown, cylindrical
mass; flowers without perianth, imperfect; staminate flowers toward summit of spike, each
consisting of one–several stamens (falling early); pistillate flowers on lower portion of spike,
each consisting of one pistil on a pedicel bearing long hairs; ovary superior; fruit a minute,
wind-dispersed follicle that splits in water to release the single seed.
ACAT-TAILS provide food and habitat for many animals but are often considered pests because
they spread rapidly and displace other species. According to Smith (2000), “Some species produce
large amounts of biomass, comparable to the most productive agricultural crops.” It has
been shown (e.g., Prindle & Martin 1996; Gallardo et al. 1998, 2000) that CAT-TAILS release allelopathic
chemicals (= those causing harmful effects on other plants) and that these compounds
may play a role in CAT-TAILS displacing other species. Typha has numerous human uses, and CAT-
TAILS have been called the “supermarket of the swamps” (Gibbons 1962). Some parts are eaten
(e.g., young shoot bases, rhizomes, young spikes, pollen); leaves are used in dwellings, for mats,
baskets, or other articles; and the “fluff” from the fruiting spikes has been used for stuffing various
objects (e.g., mattresses, life preservers), for tinder, soundproofing, and for insulation
(Steyermark 1963; Morton 1975; Thieret & Luken 1996; Smith 2000). CAT-TAILS are able to grow
in some areas contaminated by pollutants and have been used in bioremediation (Keane et al.
1999). Hybrids are well known in the genus (e.g., Smith 1967, 1987, 2000; Gertz et al. 1994), including
T. �provincialis A. Camus, a hybrid between the two species found in East TX. This
hybrid is known from very few collections and until recently was unknown from TX (Smith
2000). A collection made in Dallas Co. in 2003 (R. Milam s.n., BRIT) appears to be T.
�provincialis. The incredibly numerous fruits of Ty pha are minute and very effectively winddispersed—thus
CAT-TAILS are found in most potential habitats in East TX. (Perhaps from Greek,
typhein, to smoke or to emit smoke, in reference either to the use of the spikes for maintaining
smoky fires or to the smoky brown color of the fruiting spikes—Smith 2000)
REFERENCES: Hotchkiss & Dozier 1949; Fassett & Calhoun 1952; Smith 1967, 1987; Lee &
Fairbrothers 1969; Lee 1975; Morton 1975; Sharitz et al. 1980; Gertz et al. 1994; Gallardo et al.
1998; Marcinko Kuehn & White 1999.
1. Staminate and pistillate portions of spike with a gap of 1–4 cm between them; base of leaf
blades with orange-brown punctate mucilage glands on inner (= adaxial) side; pistillate spikes
in fruit ca. 15–25 mm in diam.; pistillate flowers with bracteoles (these minute—the broadened
tips among the stigmas, ca. 0.8 mm long, mostly wider than stigmas); stigmas thread-like, linear
to narrowly lanceolate, often quickly deciduous _____________________________________ T. domingensis
1. Staminate and pistillate portions of spike usually touching (if staminate flowers have abscised,
look for attachment scars of staminate flowers on the inflorescence axis just beyond the pistillate
portion); base of leaf blades lacking mucilage glands; pistillate spikes in fruit ca. 24–36 mm in
diam.; pistillate flowers lacking bracteoles; stigmas ovate to lanceolate, persistent _______________ T. latifolia
Typha domingensis Pers., (of Santo Domingo), NARROW-LEAF CAT-TAIL, SOUTHERN CAT-TAIL, TULE.
Plant 2–3+ m tall; leaf blades 0.6–1.8 cm wide (fresh), 0.5–1.5 cm wide (dry); inflorescence as tall