Chap. 69.] THE BUSH. 361 



CHAP. 69. (18.) SIX VAKIETIES OF THE HUSH: FOUK EEMEDIES 

 DEHITED FROM THE CYP1ROS. 



Mago has likewise given similar recommendations as to the 

 rush known to us as the " mariscus," 33 and which is so exten- 

 sively employed for weaving mats. He says that it should be 

 gathered in the month of June, up to the middle of July, and 

 for drying it he gives the same precepts that have been al- 

 ready 33 mentioned, in the appropriate place, when speaking of 

 sedge. He describes a second kind, also, which I find is 

 generally called the " marine " rush, and is known to the 

 Greeks as the " oxyschoenos." 34 



Generally speaking, there are three varieties of this last 

 rush : the pointed rush, which is barren, and by the Greeks 

 is called the male rush and the " oxys :" 35 the female rush, 36 

 which bears a black seed, and is called the "melancranis," 37 

 thicker and more bushy than the preceding one : and a third 

 kind, called the " holoschcenus," 38 which is larger still. Of 

 these varieties, the melancranis grows separately from the 

 others, but the oxys and the holoschoenus will grow upon the 

 self-same clod. The holoschoenus is the most useful for all 

 kinds of basket-work, being of a particularly supple and fleshy 

 nature ; it bears a fruit, which resembles eggs attached to one 

 another. The rush, again, which we have spoken of as the 

 male rush, 39 is reproduced from itself, the summit of it being 

 bent down into the earth ; the melancranis, however, is propa- 

 gated from seed. Beyond this, the roots of all the varieties of 

 the rush die every year. 



The rush is in general use for making kipes 40 for sea-fishing, 



S2 The Schoenus mariscus of Linnaeus. 



33 Pliny is guilty of a lapsus memoriae here, for he has nowhere given 

 any such advice on the subject. Hardouin refers to B. xviii. c. 67, but 

 erroneously, for there he is speaking of hay, not " ulva" or sedge. 



34 The "sharp rush." The Juncus acutus of Linnaeus; the pointed 

 bulrush. 



35 The " pointed" rush. The Schoanus mucronatus of Linnaeus. 



36 A variety, Fee says, of the Schcenus nigricans of Linnaeus, the black 

 bulrush, 37 The " black head." 



83 The Scirpus holoschoenus of Linnaeus, Fee thinks. 



89 None of the rushes, Fee remarks, are barren ; and when the head is 

 inserted in the ground, it is neither more nor less than a sowing of the 

 seed. Hardouin remarks, however, that by the word " cacumine." the 

 bulbous root of the rush is meant, and not the point of the stem. 



40 " XassaB." Baskets with a narrow mouth. 



