46 SCHOENUS RYNCHOSPOHA. [CLASS m. OHDXR i. 



which arc eaten iu Egypt and other places, and, when roasted, used as 

 a substitute for coffee. C. hy'dra, or nut-grass, is said to be exceed- 

 ingly troublesome in the sugar plantations, as it overruns them, and 

 renders the canes barren. It is stated on the authority of Major-Gen. 

 Hard wick, that the tubers of C. rotunda' tus are given with success 

 by the Hindoo practitioners in cases of cholera. Some few other spe- 

 cies are used ; but perhaps the greatest interest attached to the genus 

 is from the classical associations which are connected with the Egyptian 

 papyrus C. pap'yrus, or Pap'yrus an'tiquorum of some authors ; from 

 which the ancients chiefly manufactured their paper, ropes, and ca- 

 bles, and also their boats, from the accounts of Pliny. The roots were 

 chewed for the pleasant juice which they contain, and the roasted 

 stalks were esteemed for their pulpy matter. 



GENUS VII. SCHCE'NUS. Bog-rush. 

 Nat. Ord. CV'PERACEJE. 



GJEN. CHAR. Spikelets one to three- flowered. Glumes two ranked, 

 the outer ones smaller, ban-en. Bristles very small, or none. 

 Style jointed, deciduous. Name from xomoj or CTXOJVOJ, a rope or 

 cord ; because from plants of this tribe a kind of cable and 

 cordage was made. 



1. S. ni'gricans, (Fig. 65.) black Bog-rush. Spikelets several, col- 

 lected into a compact terminal head, involucre of two leaves, the 

 outer one terminating in an awl-shaped point, longer than the 

 head, stem round, and leafless. 



English Botany, t. 1121. English Flora, vol. i. p. 52. Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 280. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 27. 



Root long, black, and exceedingly tough. Stem from six to twelve 

 inches high, erect, round, smooth, simple, enveloped at the base by the 

 dark and shining sheaths of the leaves, which are narrow, setaceous, 

 rigid, somewhat rough, shorter than the stem. Head of flowers ter- 

 minal. Spikelets crowded. Glumes a dark brown, almost black. 

 Style jointed, darker than the germen. Stigmas three. Bristles, 

 when present, are small, brown, and spiny. 



Habitat. On turfy waste land. " Rare in Scotland, except on the 

 west coast." 



Perennial ; flowering in June and July. 



GENUS VIII. RHYNCH'OSPORA. Beak-nt*h. 

 Nat. Ord. CY'PERACE*:. 



GEN. CHAR. Spikelets few flowered. Glumes of one valve, imbricated 

 on all sides, the outer ones smaller, barren. Bristles various in 



