198 



RUSHES. BLACK GRASS. 



TABLE II. LIST OF GRASS-LIKE RUSHES. (Juncacece.) 



The most prominent and valuable of these plants is 

 the 



BLACK GRASS (Juncus bulbosus, var. gerardi), an in- 

 habitant of salt marshes. This plant has a simple, 

 slender stem, somewhat flattened, from one to two feet 

 high. It is considered the best product of the salt 

 marshes, and grows most luxuriantly along their borders, 

 which are only occasionally overflowed by the tides, 

 often working its way to the uplands, where the seed is 

 scattered, in large quantities, in curing. It should be 

 cut early, and, when well cured, is thought to be nearly 

 equal in value to good English hay. Though not of 

 itself equal in value, weight for weight, to " goose 



