PART I.] 



CULTURAL 



65 



plants surpass Equisetum Telmateia, which, in deep soil, in 

 shady moist places near water, often grows several feet high, 

 the long, close- set, slender branches depending from each whorl 

 in a singularly graceful manner. 



For a bold and picturesque plant on the margin of water 

 nothing surpasses the great Water 

 Dock (Eumex Hydrolapathum), 

 which is dispersed over the 

 British Isles; it has leaves fine 

 in aspect and size, becoming of a 

 lurid red in the autumn. The 

 Typhas must not be omitted, 

 but they should not be allowed 

 to run everywhere. The narrow- 

 leaved one (T. angustifolia) is 

 more graceful than the common 

 one (T. latifolia). Carex pendula 

 is excellent for the margins of 

 water, its elegant drooping spikes 

 being quite distinct in their way. 

 It is rather common in England, 

 more so than Carex Pseudo-cyperus, 

 which grows well in a foot or two 

 of water or on the margin of a muddy pond. Carex paniculata 

 forms a strong and thick stem, sometimes three or four feet 

 high, somewhat like a tree-fern, and with luxuriant masses of 

 drooping leaves, and on that account is transferred to moist 

 places in gardens, and cultivated by some, though generally 

 these large specimens are difficult to remove and soon perish. 

 Scirpus lacustris (the Bulrush) is too distinct a plant to be 

 omitted, as its stems, sometimes attaining a height of more 

 than seven and even eight feet, look distinct; and Cyperus 

 longus is also a good plant, reminding one of the Papyrus when 

 in flower ; and it is found in some of the southern counties of 

 England. Cladium Mariscus is also another distinct British 

 water-side plant, which is worth a place. 



If one chose to enumerate the plants that grow in British 



E 



The Great Water Dock. 



