NUDIFLORiE 351 



plant is sometimes termed Bulrush, which applies 

 more correctly to Scirpus lacustris. Bulrush is pole- 

 rush or pool-rush. 



Wherever there are suitable habitats the Great 

 Reed Mace is to be found in all parts of the British 

 Isles and in the Channel Islands, as well as in Ireland 

 and northward in Britain to the extreme north of 

 Scotland. 



Pools, margins of lakes, river banks, watery ditches, 

 streams, are the habitat of this plant, which forms a 

 graceful ornament to every piece of water in which 

 it grows in small or large patches, the tall stems and 

 lank leaves swaying to and fro in the wind. It occurs 

 in the fresh-water aquatic formation in waters 

 relatively rich in mineral salts, in slowly-flowing 

 waters in the reed-swamp association. 



In habit the Great Reed Mace is erect, tall, with a 

 thick, creeping rootstock below, the habit reed-like. 

 The stem is round in section and stands high out of 

 the water. The leaves are very long, in two rows, 

 erect, linear, strap-shaped, nearly flat, longer than 

 the inflorescence, and broad. They are sheathing at 

 the base, elsewhere flat, more or less bluish-green. 



The inflorescence is a dense continuous spike, 

 sometimes a foot long. It consists of two parts, the 

 male and female parts not being separated by a space. 

 The upper, usually yellow, portion is male, with two 

 to five stamens in the male flowers, the connective 

 projecting beyond the anthers, and the flower is 

 surrounded by a number of hairs. The anthers are 



