BOGS, MARSHES, WET PLACES— SUMMER 251 



Rushes and Sedges are so abundant in marshes and other wet 

 places that they form quite a characteristic feature of these locaHties ; 

 and the number of com- 

 mon species is so large 

 that we must necessarily 

 confine our attention to a 

 very small proportion. 



The Rushes, which 

 constitute the order 

 Juncacece, are stiff, smooth 

 plants, often of such social 

 habits that they cover 

 large patches of wet or 

 watery soil. Their stems 

 are usually erect, and 

 seldom branched ; and 

 their stiff, smooth leaves 

 are frequently cylindrical, 

 like the stems, with a soft, 

 pith-like tissue within, 

 but occasionally flat and 

 narrow like those of 

 grasses. The flowers are 

 perfect, with a regular, 

 inferior perianth of six 

 dry segments ; and they 

 have generally six stamens, 

 a three-celled ovary, and 

 three slender stigmas. 

 They are very small, either 

 separate or in clusters ; 

 and each flower or cluster 

 has a dry, sheathing bract 

 at its base. 



The pretty little Bog 

 Asphodel [Narthecnim 

 ossifragum) shall first 

 receive our attention be- 

 cause botanists are not yet 



in agreement as to its correct position among the monocotyledonous 

 plants. It is certainly allied to the rushes, but on account of its 



THE BOG ASPHODEL. 



