BULRUSH 157 



is in threes, the corolla consists of 6 petals, and there are 9 stamens, 

 6 pistils, and later 6 capsules. 



Flowering Rush is 2-3 ft. high. The flowers may be sought in 

 June and July. The plant is a herbaceous perennial, propagated by 

 division. 



The flowers, which are on long stalks, forming a flattish umbel, are 

 proterandrous, the anthers ripening first, the stigma soon after. 1 There 

 are 9 stamens, which are hypogynous, 6 in pairs, 3 opposite the inner 

 segments of the perianth. The anther-stalks are awl-shaped, and the 

 anthers are fixed by the base. The styles are short, and the stigmas 

 stalkless. 



The follicle contains many seeds, which fall, when the stem is 

 swayed by the wind, into the water, and are so dispersed. 



This handsome plant is aquatic, growing in lowland areas, with 

 peat-loving or clay-loving plants. 



Butomus, Theophrastus, is from the Greek bous and temno, because 

 the leaves cut the mouths of cattle; and the second Latin name refers 

 to the umbellate inflorescence. 



This plant is called Flowering Rush, Water Gladiole. Gerarde 

 says of it: " The water-gladiole or grassie-rush is of all others the fairest 

 and most pleasant to behold and serveth very well for the decking and 

 trimming up of houses, because of the beautie and braverie thereof ". 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



316. Biitonms umbellatus, L. Scape radical, leaves radical, trian- 

 gular, Ion IT, slender, flowers in umbels, rose colour with scarious bracts. 



O O' 



Bulrush (Scirpus lacustris, L.) 



Remains of the arctic Bulrush have been found in Preglacial beds 

 in Norfolk and Suffolk, in Early Glacial beds in Norfolk, in Inter- 

 glacial and Late Glacial beds, as well as in Neolithic deposits. Its 

 present distribution is the Arctic, Temperate, and Tropical regions, 

 being cosmopolitan. In Great Britain it does not grow in the Isle of 

 Wight, Monmouth, Pembroke, Cardigan, Roxburgh, Linlithgow, Mid 

 Perth, N. Perth, Banff, Easterness, S. Ebudes, but elsewhere ranges as 

 far north as the Shetlancls, and occurs in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 



Bulrushes are widespread in these islands, forming a typical part of 

 the landscape, one may almost say in every piece of water scenery. 

 They form tall beds in the channels of rivers, streams, or ditches in 



1 Or the stigma may not ripen till later. In some cases both mature simultaneously. The 6 anthers 

 which alternate with the perianth-segments ripen first. The other three open later, and then the stigmas. 



