RUSH FAMILY. 340 



Y. angUStif61ia, wild over the plains beyond tin- Mis~is-ippi, is smaller, 

 with erect and narrow linear lea\e>, lew threads on their white margins, and 

 yellowish-white flowers. 



* * Trunk arborescent, 2 -8 hii/li in irild plants on the sands of the cmist 

 S., or much hit/In r in conservatories, naked below : no thnuilx t<> tin- 1< 



Y. gloriosa. Trunk low, generally simple; leaves coriaeeoiK, sniooth- 

 edged, slender-spiny tipped, 1 2 long, l'-lj'wide; flowers white, or pur- 

 plish-tinged outside, in a short-peduncled panicle. 



Y. aloifolia, SPANISH-BAYONET. Trunk 4 -20 high, branching when 

 old; leaves very rigid, strongly spiny-tipped, with \vry rough-serrulate saw 

 like edges, 2 or more long, 1^' - 2' wide ; the short paniele nearly sessile. 



125. JUNCACE.SJ, RUSH FAMILY. 



Plants with the appearance and herbage of Sedges and Grasses, 

 yet with flowers of the structure of the Lily Family, having a com- 

 plete perianth of 6 parts, 3 outer and 3 inner, but greenish aud 

 glume-like. Stamens 6 or 3, style 1 : stigmas 3. 



1. JUNCUS. Ovary and pod 3-celled or almost 3-celled, many-seeded. Herbage 



smooth : stems often leafless, generally pithy. 



2. LUZULA. Ovary and pod 1-celled, with 3 parietal placentae, and one seed to 



each. Stems and leaves often soft-hairy. 



1. JUNCUS, RUSH, BOG-RUSH. (The classical Latin mime, from the 

 verb meaning to join, rushes being used for bands.) Flowers Mimnicr. We 

 have more than 30 species, chiefly in bogs or wet grounds, nio-t of them diffi- 

 cult and little interesting to the beginner, to be studied in the Manual and 

 in Dr. Engelmann's monograph. The following arc the commonest. 



1. LEAFLESS RUSHES, with naked and jointless round stems, wholly leafless, 

 mere/i/ with sheaths at IXIKC, in tnjlsfrom matted running rootstOCKS : Jfowers 

 in a lateral sessile panicle, y. 



J. effilSUS, COMMON RUSH, in low grounds ; has soft and pliant stems 

 2-4 high, panicle of many greenish flowers, 3 stamens, and vcrv blunt pod. 



J. filifdrmis, of bogs and shores only N., is lender, pliant, l-2 high, 

 with few greenish flowers, 6 stamens, and a broadly ovate blunt but short- 

 pointed pod. 



J. Balticus, of sandy shores N. ; has very strong rootstocks, ri-id stems 

 2 -3 high, a loose panicle of larger (2" long) and chestnut-colored with green- 

 ish flowers, 6 stamens, and oblong blunt but pointed deep-brown pod. 



2. GRASSY-LEAVED RUSHES, with stems bearing grass-like jtat or thread- 

 shaped (n< i-er knotty) leaves, at Itast near the liase : panicle terminal. 



* Flowers crowded in heads on the divisions of the panicle: stuns flattened: 



haves flat: stamen* 3. 



J. marginatUS. Sandy wet soil, from S. New England S. 

 high; leaves lony linear; heads several-flowered, brownish or purplish. 



J. repens. 'Miry banks S. : spreading or .-(.(,11 creeping < 

 short linear ; heads of green flowers few in a loose leafy panicle. 



* * Flowers single on the ultimate branches of the panicle, or rarely clustered: 



stamens 6 : leaves slemlir, 



J. bufonius. Along all wet roadsides, &c. : stem- low and slender, branch- 

 ing, 3'-9' high; greenish flowers scattered in a loose panicle; Bepalfl 

 linear and awl-pointed. i 



J. Gerardi, BLACK GRASS of salt marshes : in tufts with rather r 

 l-2 high, and a contracted panicle of chestnut-brown but partly gri 

 flowers, the sepals blunt. 2/ 



