322 CYPERACE^E. [Scirpus, 



5. Scirpus. Linn. Club-rush. 



Glumes of one valve, imbricated on all sides, equal, one or two 

 of the outer ones sometimes sterile. Bristles sometimes 

 wanting. Style continuous, deciduous, leaving only a small 

 mucro. — Name, according to Theis, from Cirs, in Celtic, 

 which makes Cors in the plural, whence chorda in Latin, and 

 cord in English ; the stems having been formerly employed 

 for the same purpose as those of Schcenus. 



Triandria. Monogynia. 



1. S. lacustris, Linn. Lake Club-rush or Bull-rush. Spike- 

 lets in compound lateral umbels, mostly shorter than the 

 rounded almost leafless stem. Br. Fl. 1. p. 20. E. Fl. v. i. 

 p. 56. E. Bot. t. 666. 



Margins of lakes and rivers. Fl. July, Aug". %. — Root thick, 

 creeping. Stems six to eight feet high, soft, spongy, smooth. Leaves 

 at the base, one or two, short, with long sheaths. Panicle various in 

 luxuriance, or number of spikes, which are brown and fringed. Stiff- 

 mas three, rarely but two. Fruit obovate, triquetrous, having six 

 rough bristles at the base. The stems are used for mats and chair-bot- 

 toms, and coopers use them for filling the spaces between the seams j>f 

 casks. 



2. S. glaucus, Smith. Glaucous Club-rush. Stem round, 

 naked, glaucous ; panicle cymose, not higher than the bractea ; 

 spikes ovate, conglomerate ; stigmas two. Sm. in E. Fl. v. i. 

 p. 57. E. Bot. t. 2321.— S. lacustris, /3. Br. Fl. \.p. 20. 



Salt-water ditches and pools. On the strand between Clontarf and 

 Kilbarrick, and lake near Sandymount. Fl. Aug. 2£. — From three 

 to four feet high, of a glaucous hue. Panicle less compound, than in 

 the last. Spikes more crowded, darker, with broader glumes dotted 

 with purple. I have cultivated this plant, along with the last, in the 

 pond at the College Botanic Garden, for the last ten years, where it 

 has never attained above half the height of the other, and still retains 

 its glaucous hue. 



3. S. setaceus, Linn. Bristle-shaped Club-rush. Stems 

 compressed, with one or two leaves at the base ; spikelets about 

 two, terminal ; general bractea erect, leafy, much shorter than 

 the stem ; fruit ribbed, obovate, and marked with transverse 

 lines ; bristles none. Br. Fl. 1. p. 21. E. Fl. v. i. p. 58. E. 

 Bot. t. 1693. — Isolepis setucea, Br. 



Moist gravelly places, frequent. Fl. July, Aug. %.. — Stems tufted, 

 two to five inches high, very slender. Stamens two. Stigmas three. 



4. S. Savii, Spreng. Savi's Club-rush. Stem round, leafy 

 below; spikelets 1 — 3, terminal, shorter than the unequally 

 two-leaved involucre ; fruit subglobose, rough with slightly 

 elevated points ; bristles none. Hook, in E. Bot. Suppl. t. 2782. 

 Br. Fl. ed. 3. p. 28. — Isolepis Saviana, Roem. et Sch. — Scirpus 



