40 - SCIRPUS. [class III. ORDER I. 



GENUS IX. SCIR'PUS. Clnb-rush. 



Nat. Ord. Cy'perace^. 



Gen. Char. Glumes of one valve, imbricated on all sides, the outer 

 ones sometimes barren. Bristles sometimes wanting. Style sim- 

 ple, deciduous. Fruit terminating in a mucro. — Name of doubt- 

 ful origin. According to Theis, it is from Cirs, in Celtic, which 

 makes Cars in the plural, — whence chorda in Latin, and cord in 

 English ; the stems having been formerly employed for the pur- 

 pose of making cords, as those of Schanus. 



1. .S'. lacus'tris, (Fig. 68.) Lake Club-rush, or Bull-rush. Spikelets 

 ovate, in compound lateral umbels, stem round, smooth, without 

 or but few leaves at the base. 

 English Botany, t. 666.— English Flora, vol. i. p. 5G. — Lindley, Sy- 

 nopsis, p. 281. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 27. 



/3. glmi'cus, smaller, glaucous, umbels more compact, less compound, 

 Hooker, Flora Scot. vol. i. p. 18. — Scir'pvs glau'cus, English Botany, 

 t. 2312.— English Flora, vol. i. p. 58. 



Roots long, as well as the thick submerged stems, which frequently 

 spread a considerable distance under water. Stem three, six or eiflit 

 feet high, erect, simple, smooth, and terminating above the inflorescti.^ v.- 

 in a long triangular point, naked, except at the base, which is sur- 

 rounded with pale sheaths, sometimes terminating in a short leafy 

 expansion. Umbels very variable in size, and in the number of the 

 spikelets, universal involucre variable, of a few thin membranous 

 bractcas, the partial ones much smaller and shorter. Pedicels of the par- 

 tial umbels compressed or three-cornered, rough at the edges, of various 

 lengths. Spikelets ovate, sometimes nearly sessile. Glumes ovate, 

 fringed, of a rusty brown colour, frequently notched at the end, keel 

 terminating in a point. Stamens equal in length to the two or three- 

 cleft stiyma. Fruit obovate, flat on one side, convex on the other. 

 Bristles from four to six. The glumes of ^. f/lau'cus are generally less 

 fringed and dotted with purplish-coloured spots, but these vary as well 

 as other characters, so as to render its specific distinction untenable, 

 notwithstanding the high authority of Sir J. E. Smith, who states it to 

 be " a very distinct species." 



Habitat. — In clear drains, ditches, and margins of lakes ; common. 

 — /3. In similar situations, but not so common. 



Perennial ; flowering in .July and August. 



The stems, under the name of Rushes, are used to a considerable 

 extent for a variety of domestic purj)oses, such as thatching for cottages, 

 matting for floors, but most extensively in tlic manufacturing of rush- 

 liottomed chairs, and by coopers for making tight the s])accs between 

 the staves of casks. Sec. They, as well as other of the Scirpu.ses, arc 

 eaten with avidity by cattle. 



