36 



BRITISH FLORA 



or variety o(J. com/iressus, a more inland species. 

 There are one or more leaves on the stem, which 

 is crcepiniLf, 3-an};lcd above, distant. The leaves 

 are linear, channelled. The flowers are in a 

 terminal, compound, rather cymose panicle, longer 

 than the bracts. The perianth-segments arc as 

 long as the capsule, and are oval to oblong, blunt. 

 The floral bracts are shining, brown. The anthers 

 are long. The style is as long as the ovary. 

 The capsule is blunt-pointed, and oval to oblong. 

 The plant is 6-15 in. high, flowering in July and 

 August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Great Sea Rush (Juncus aculus, L.). — The habi- 

 tat of this plant is sandy seashores. The plant has 

 the rush habit, forming circular tufts. The stems 

 are erect, rigid, with a very sharp rigid point 

 (hence aculus), round in section, hardly finely- 

 furrowed, the flowcrless ones numerous. The 

 leaves are round in section, sharp-pointed, mostly 

 reduced to long, shining sheaths. The flowers 

 are in a dense, coryinb-like panicle, very com- 

 pound and close, large in fruit. The bracts are 

 lance-shaped, awl-like, longer than the flowers. 

 The perianth is brown, the 3 inner segments 

 notched, with a broad membranous border, winged 

 near the apex, the perianth-segments egg-shaped 

 to lance-shaped, half as long as the broad, blunt, 

 egg-shaped capsule, which is swollen, hardly 3- 

 angled. The seeds are broadly egg-shaped. 

 The plant is 2-4 ft. in height, flowering in July 

 and August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Order Naiadace.^ 



Sea Arrow Grass (7>!^/of/i/K marilimum, L.). — 

 The habitat of the plant is muddy salt marshes. 

 The habit is tufted. The stems are thickened 

 below. The leaves are radical, linear, fleshy, 

 flattened at the tip. The scape is curved. The 

 flowers are in a loose, simple, long raceme, and 

 are greenish. The fruit is egg-shaped, oblong, 

 not appressed to the scape. There are 6 stamens. 

 The 6 carpels are grooved at the back. The 

 plant is 10-12 in. high, flowering between May 

 and SeptLMiiber, .and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Tassel Pondweed {Ruppia maritima, h. = R. 

 spiralis, Dum.). — The habitat of this species is 

 salt water and brackish ditches, salt-marshes. 

 The plant has the pondweed habit. The stem is 

 slender, much-branched. The leaves are linear, 

 narrow, opposite or alternate, the first leaf of 

 each axillary shoot opposite a narrow, blunt, or 

 notched cellular scale, arising from the base at 

 the side next the axis. The flowers are in a 

 spadix arising from the leaf-sheath. The leaf- 

 sheaths are inflated. The flower-stalk is spirally 

 coiled (as in Vallisneria), long, short and straight 

 in flower, when fruiting 5-6 in. The anther-cells 

 are it times as long as broad. The nut is egg- 

 shaped, green, beaked, obliquely erect, the stalk 

 1-2 in. The plant is floating. It flowers between 

 July and September, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Ruppia rostellata, Koch. — The habitat of this 

 plant is salt marshes. The plant has been re- 

 garded as merely a subspecies of the last. The 



plant as a whole is very slender. The leaves are 

 narrower, slender to linear. The sheaths are 

 smooth, close, closely pressed to the stem. The 

 fruiting-stalks are short, wavy, not spiral. The 

 anther-cells are more or less round, rather square, 

 as broad as long. The drupe is swollen below, 

 obliquely ascending when young, the beak long 

 (hence rostellata). The plant is floating. The 

 flowering period is between June and August, 

 The plant is a herbaceous perennial. 



Zannicliellia pcdunculuta, Reichb. = Z. mari- 

 tima, Nolte. — The habit;it of this plant is brackish 

 water. The habit is that of a pondweed. The 

 leaves are opposite, threadlike. The achcnes are 

 2-5, stalked (hence pedunculata), with strong 

 prickles on the back. The style is as long as the 

 achenes. The stigma is large, scalloped. The 

 anther-stalks are up to \ in. long. The anthers 

 arc 2-celled. The plant is floating. Flowers are 

 to be found between May and August. The plant 

 is a herbaceous annual. 



Small Grasswrack (Zoslera nana, Roth). — The 

 habitat of this plant is muddy estuaries or salt 

 water. The habit is ribbon-like or zosteroid (hence 

 Zostera), like other grasswracks. The plant is 

 small (hence nana). The leaves are slender, linear, 

 1-3-veined. The flower-stalks are slender, pale in 

 colour, half as broad and as long as the spathe. 

 The spathe is swollen above the stalk, oblong to 

 lance-shaped, with a short blade. The spadix is 

 few-flowered, short, with 2-5 clasping bands, the 

 margin having membranous appendages bent in- 

 wards. The nuts are smooth, faintly furrowed, 

 the seeds shining black when ripe. The plant is 

 floating, flowering between April and August, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Order Cyperace^ 



Heleocharis nniglumis, Sch. — The habitat of 

 this species is wet sandy places, especially near 

 the sea. The plant has the sedge habit more or 

 less. The rootstock is far-creeping. The stem 

 is clothed with transversely blunt sheaths at the 

 base. The lower glumes are brown, egg-shaped, 

 almost surrounding the spikelet, somewhat acute, 

 the edges narrow, pale. The nut is pear-shaped, 

 blunt, flattened at the border, the edge rounded. 

 The surface is finely furrowed, dotted. The nut 

 is crowned with the style, which is conical below, 

 and is not as long as the bristles. The plant is 

 6-8 in. high, flowering in June and July, and is a 

 herbaceous perennial. 



Cluster-headed Club Rash{Scirpus Holoschtenus, 

 L. ). — The habitat of this plant is sandy sea-coasts. 

 The plant has the bulrush habit. The rootstock 

 is creeping. The stems are tall, round in section, 

 tufted, stout. The margins of the sheaths are 

 united by netted fibres. The leaves are few, erect, 

 channelled, awl-like, rigid, and occur on the upper 

 sheaths, and are not so long as the stem, h.alf 

 round, with rough margins. The spikelets are 

 very small, in dense, round clusters forming a 

 cyme, the upper shortly stalked or stalkless, the 

 branches half round and very stout. The lower 



