Typhaceae

The cattail family in Belgium:
This small family consists only of two genera: bur-reed (Sparganium) and cattail (Typha). Both occur in Belgium. Although hardly species rich – there are only about 35 species worldwide – the Typhaceae can be found almost everywhere in the world. They prosper on the margins of rivers, lakes, ponds, where the water lays still or runs only slowly. Where they do occur, they often grow in massive numbers and thus cover wide areas. They play therefore an important role in the ecology of such ecosystems. Fossils of Typhaceae are known from more than 100 million years ago, which means this family inhabited the world of the dinosaurs for 35 million years.

The Belgian Herbarium:
Meise Botanic Garden holds the largest herbarium collection of Belgian plant specimens. Each of these herbarium specimens has a label with valuable information such as the plant’s identification, and when, where, and who collected the plant. These specimens can be used in many domains of research, such as conservation, evolution, ecology and systematics. These data help us to better understand the plants of Belgium, their history and that of people who collected them. There are about 200,000 specimens in the Belgian Herbarium of the Meise Botanic Garden and we want to document them all! These data will then be made available online at www.botanicalcollections.be.

Keywords (Latin):
Belgium, Typhaceae, Monocotyledones, Hortus Botanicus Meise, Botanica.