SEA-COAST 



37 



bract is erect, oblong-, with a flat, open channel, 

 the upper spreading or ascending. The glumes 

 are inversely egg-shaped, notched, with a blunt 

 point, fringed* with hairs, variegated brown and 

 white. The fruit is nearly round, blunt-pointed, 

 wrinkled. The anthers have a long point, and are 

 entire or toothed. There are 3 stigmas. The 

 plant is 3-4 ft. in height, flowering from August 

 to October, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Small Club Rush (Scirpus parvulus, R. and S. 

 = 5. nanus, Spreng.). The habitat of this plant 

 is sandy seashores, mud flats, and estuarine mud. 

 The habit is as in the last. It is a small species 

 (hence parvulus and nanus). The rootstock is 

 creeping, long, with hair-like or slender stolons, 

 with egg-shaped to awl-like tubers. The stems 

 are numerous, grooved, transversely rounded, with 

 one small sheath, very slender, closely pressed, 

 leafless. The leaves are radical, slender, bristle- 

 like, enlarged below, bent back, channelled. The 

 spikelets are very small, few-flowered, pale, egg- 

 shaped, oval. The glumes are egg-shaped, blunt, 

 keeled, membranous, the lowest flowerless, not 

 longer than the spikelet, the two outer longer. 

 The bristles are 4-8, twice as long as the nut, 

 barbed, the hairs bent downwards. The nut is pale, 

 inversely egg-shaped to oblong, 3-angled, smooth, 

 blunt-pointed. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering 

 in July and August, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Scirpus Taberncemontani, Gmel. = 5. glaucus, 

 Sm. The habitat of this plant is brackish ditches, 

 usually near the sea, rivers, and ponds. The habit 

 is as in the last. The plant is creeping below. 

 The stems are round in section, bluish-green (hence 

 glaucus), with i or 2 long sheaths below. The 

 plant has 2 floating leaves, as in 5. lacustris. The 

 spikelets are in a terminal, compound panicle, 

 smaller than the common type. The lower bract 

 is short. The glumes are rough, notched, fringed, 

 the anthers are not bearded, but the tips are 

 smooth. There are 2 stigmas. The nut is flat- 

 tened at the border, round, oblong, smooth. The 

 plant is 1-3 ft. high, flowering between July and 

 September, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Triangular Bulrush (Scirpus triqueter, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is muddy tidal rivers. 

 The plant has the bulrush habit. The stems are 

 acutely 3-sided, with concave faces. There are 

 1-2 long sheaths below, the upper ending in a 

 short, broad, 3-sided leaf, or usually leafless. The 

 flowers are in a small, lateral, cyme-like panicle, 

 with short, stout branches. The lower bract is 

 long and rigid, like a continuation of the stem. 

 The spikelets are small, stalked and stalkless, 

 solitary or few, ovoid, long. The glumes are 

 inversely ovate, notched, smooth, fringed, with 

 rounded, blunt lobes. The nut is 3-angled, 

 roundish to inversely ovate, plano-convex, shining, 

 smooth. The anthers have a short, beardless 

 point. There are 2 stigmas. The plant is 1-3 ft. 

 high, flowering in July and August up to October, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Brown Club Rush (Scirpus rufus, Schrad.). 

 This species is found in wet pastures or marshes, 

 salt marshes, especially near the sea, on the north- 



I ern and western coasts. The stems are slender, 

 j round, tufted. The rootstock is creeping. The 

 leaves are short, channelled, smooth, half-round in 

 section. The spikelets contain 2-4 flowers, and 

 are chestnut - brown, few and short, not longer 

 than the bract. The glumes are dark-brown and 

 polished, the outer glume smooth, as long as the 

 spikelet. There are 1-6 slender, deciduous, short, 

 rough bristles, with spreading or ascending teeth. 

 The fruit is brown, ovate, opaque, with a long 

 beak. The plant is 3-12 in. high, flowering in 

 July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Large-headed Sand Sedge (Carex incurva, 

 Lightf.). The habitat of this plant is sandy shores 

 of the north, damp sea sand. The habit is grass- 

 like, drooping. The stem is smooth, stout, bent 

 down, nearly round, with spreading soboles. The 

 leaves are channelled, as long as the stem, with 

 the margins inrolled. The spikelets form a head, 

 the male above. The glumes are blunt, egg- 

 shaped, not so long as the perigynia, which are 

 egg-shaped, swollen, spreading, the smooth beak 

 split. The nut is inversely egg-shaped. The plant 

 is 2-4 in. in height, and flowers in June and July, 

 being a herbaceous perennial. 



Carex divisa, Huds. The habitat of this sedge 

 is marshes near the sea, brackish marshes, espe- 

 cially on the southern and eastern coasts. The 

 habit is grass-like. The stem is slender, rough 

 at the top, the long, narrow leaves are wavy, and 

 have the margin inrolled, an adaptation to dry 

 conditions. The spikelets form a crowded head, 

 and there is a bristle-like bract below, brown, with 

 a membranous border. The fruit is egg-shaped, 

 and as long as the egg-shaped acute membranous 

 glumes, with a blunt point, plano-convex, veined. 

 The beak is divided into two nearly to the base, 

 and has the edges roughly and coarsely toothed. 

 The nut is brown, rounded. The plant is 1-3 ft. 

 in height, and flowers in June and July. It is a 

 herbaceous perennial. 



Carex salina, Wahl. = var. b. katiegensis, Fr. 

 The habitat of this species is the margins of tidal 

 rivers. The plant has the sedge habit. The stem 

 is 3-angled, tall. The leaves are narrow, yellow- 

 green, with rough keel and margin. The sheaths 

 are not webbed. The spikes are erect, the lower 

 drooping. The male spikelets are 2-3, the fertile 

 3-4, on short stalks, sometimes male above. The 

 glumes are brownish, egg-shaped, blunt or with 

 a short point, the lower with an excurrent, rough 

 midrib. The bracts are as long as the spikes, leaf- 

 like. There are 2-3 stigmas. The fruit is egg- 

 shaped, flattened, with many veins and a short 

 beak. The nut is inversely egg-shaped, narrow 

 above and below. The plant is 1-3 ft. high, flower- 

 ing in July and August, and is a herbaceous per- 

 ennial. 



Distant-spiked Sedge (Carex distant, L.). The 

 habitat of this species is marshes, chiefly maritime, 

 and wet meadows. The plant has the sedge habit. 

 The rootstock is tufted and creeping. The stems 

 are 3-angled, smooth or roughish above, leafy 

 below the middle. The leaves are broad, bluish- 

 j green, often bent back, flat. The sheaths are long. 



