66 ERIOPHORUM. 



I CLASS III. ORDER I. 



Roof, fibrous, tough, black, with creeping underground stems, of a 

 brown colour. Stem simple, naked, from six to twelve inches high, 

 striated, leafy below. Leaves flat, linear, above the length of the stem, 

 slightly keeled, which, as well as the edges, are rough towards the end, 

 and sheathing at the base. Spike terminal, compressed. Spikelets 

 compressed, two ranked. Glum.es shining, a light-brown colour, 

 keeled and striated, the outer ones empty. Fruit pale, ovate, termi- 

 nated by the tapering persistent darker style. Sti(^mas two. Bristles 

 with reflexed spines, six, as long as the style. 



Habitat. — Wet meadows and boggy situations; not uncommon. 



Perennial; flowering in July. 



2. B. rM'/ws, Link. {Fig. 83.) chajinel-leaved Blysmus. Bractca of the 

 lower spikelet membranous or leafy, spikelets few-flowered, bristles 

 none, leaves narrow, channelled. 



Lindley, Synopsis, p. 280. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 29. — 

 Sckai'nus rit'fus, English Botany, t. 1010. — Scir'pus ru'fus, English 

 Flora, vol. i. p. 60. 



A shorter and more rigid plant than the last species. Roots fibrous, 

 tough, contorted and entangled with numerous creeping underground 

 stems, emitting roots from the joints. Stems four to eight inches high, 

 simple, smooth, naked above, leafy at the base. Leaves narrow, smooth, 

 finely striated and channelled, sheathing at the base. Spike terminal, 

 compressed. Spikelets ovate, two ranked, few flowered, bractea of the 

 lower ones short and membranous, or long and foliaceous, sometimes 

 much longer than the sjiike. Glumes shining, a daik-brown colour, 

 mostly ribbed, the outer ones broader than the inner, and barren. 

 Fruit pale, ovate, flattened on one side, convex on the other, narrow at 

 the base, and terminated by the tapering persistent darker style. Bris- 

 tles none, a character by which this species is readily distinguished 

 from the last. 



Habitat. — In marshy places, principally near the sea; most frequent 

 in Scotland, and found " as far as Shetland" ; abundant on the Isle of 

 Arran. On the west coasts of England and Ireland, and in \\"ales. 



Perennial; flowering in July. 



GENUS XIII. ERIOPH'ORUM. Linn. Cotton-ffrass. 



Nat. Ord. C'vperacEjE. 



Gen. Char. Spikes terminal, solitary, or numerous. Glumes of one 

 valve, imbricated on all .sides, nearly equal. Sti/le deciduous. 

 Stigmas three. Fruit with very long silky hairs springing from 

 the base. — Name from fftcv, wool, and <Pe^'Ji, to bear, or carry; on 

 account of the conspicuous woolly heads, or because the seeds are 

 carried or borne on the wind, supported by their long woolly hairs. 



