202 AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 
to the stem, which is partly floating and partly 
erect; one of them, G. flzztans, is called Flote- 
grass. 
Taller than any of these, and scarcely admit- 
ting other plants to grow together with it, is 
the great Reed, Phragmites communis, which 
is fairly a rival of the Pampas Grass ; its large 
panicles are at first, when in bud, of a rich 
purple colour; then, as the bristles of the 
flowers elongate, the whole panicle becomes 
feather-like, and, in its latest stage of develop- 
ment, crowning the dense masses of stems 
which occupy the quiet sides of streams or 
pools, it defies for many a day even the 
blasts of winter. One or two species of Al- 
pecurus, Fox-tail Grass, also grow in watery 
places. 
Together with these aquatic grasses, mention 
must be made of several of the UMBELLIFERZ, 
which love the water and its immediate vicinity. 
The larger species of Water-Parsnep, Szzmz 
lattfoliunt, isa noble growth in rivers and the 
channels communicating with them, its pinnate 
leaves often 18 inches long, with leaflets 3 or 4 
inches long; we have few finer plants. It is 
frequent in the Midland Ouse. The smaller 
