2IO 



FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 



Sea Club Rush is one of the commonest maritime species, being 

 found more continuously along the coast on sandy shores and in 

 estuaries and salt marshes than any other plant. It is also, like Golden 

 Dock, found inland. It grows above high-water mark on sand dunes, 

 as well as farther inland. 



The stem is 3-angled and leafy, from a tuberous root. The stems 



are tufted, and bear leaves 

 at the base, which are 

 broad, long, and keeled, 

 with channels. 



The flowers are borne 

 in a dense terminal cyme 

 or cluster, the spikes be 

 ing stalkless or stalked, 

 with long leafy bracts. 

 The glumes are smooth, 

 blunt, with a sharp point, 

 divided nearly to the base, 

 and there are 6 bristles. 

 The nut is 3 - sided, 

 flattened lengthwise, and 

 shiny. 



The plant is 2-3 ft. 

 high. Flowers are to be 

 found in July up to Sep- 

 tember. It is perennial, 

 and propagated by suckers. 

 The flowers are pol- 

 linated by the wind, bisexual, with similar floral mechanism to the 

 Bulrush. 



The fruit is a nut, indehiscent, which falls when ripe to the ground, 

 and is dispersed by the plant itself or by the wind. 



Sea Club Rush is a salt-lover, addicted to a saline soil, and at 

 the same time a sand plant, being more essentially the latter than 

 the former. 



It is infested by a Homopterous insect, Paramesus nervosus. 

 The second Latin name refers to its maritime habitat, and Scirpus 

 is Latin for rush or bulrush. 



The plant is called Spurt, Star Grass. 



The roots taste sweet, and have been ground and used for flour 

 The plant is relished by cattle, and also especially by swine. 



SEA CLUB RUSH (Scirpus maritimus, L.) 



