358 WILD FLOWEES OF 



catalogue of his joys of recollection, showing that the 

 humblest minds picture pleasing images to them- 

 selves, even from a tuft of rushes. 



" Ah ! on this bank how happy have I felt, 

 When here I sat and mutter'd nameless songs, 

 And with the shepherd's boy and neatherd knelt 

 Upon yon Rush-beds, plaiting whips and thongs." * 



The Hushes, belonging to the natural order Junca- 

 cece, are a numerous and well-known tribe fringing the 

 margin of forest ponds with their " dank" herbage, or 

 covering marshy heaths in a characteristic manner 

 with their sharp-pointed glaucous foliage. Twenty- 

 two species have been enumerated as British. The 

 Great Sharp Sea-Eush (Juncus acutus), forms a conspi- 

 cuous feature upon the sandy wastes and " burrows" 

 of the western coasts of England and Wales, its 

 panicles being remarkable when in fruit, the capsules 

 large, brown, and glossy. Its leaves are sharp enough 

 to pierce the skin, and insects are often when flying 

 empaled upon their points. The Club-rushes (Scirpi) 

 are tall plants growing in watery places, and often in 

 the water itself. One of the most common is the 

 Bull-rush (Scirpus lacustris), so plentiful on the mar- 

 gin of ponds and slow-flowing rivers, where it grows 

 from three to often eight feet high, its lateral brown 

 inflorescence appearing near the tops of the lofty 

 spongy stalks. 



The round cluster-headed Club-rush (Scirpus Holos- 

 c7iosnus), is a tall and noble very local species, confined 

 to maritime spots in the extreme western parts of 

 England, and in fact I believe only now growing upon 



* Before the introduction of earthenware into Britain, platters, made of 

 twisted rushes, served instead of plates and dishes in the rural districts; and 

 thin cakes, baked in the pan, were placed upon this simple equipage. 



