CLASS VI. ORDER I.] ^ LUZDLA. 515 



angled, three seeded, the seeds roundish, oolong, flattened on one side, 

 and marked with a longitudinal line, acutely pointed at the apex, and 

 lengthened at the base into a pale conical shaped appendage. 



Habitat. Moorish and turfy places ; not uncommon. 



Perennial ; flowering in June. 



This species and its varieties are nearly allied to the previous one 

 J. campestris ; it differs, however, in the narrower more taper-pointed 

 segments of the perianth, the more ovate angled obtuse capsule being 

 also only slightly shorter than the perianth, and the very different size 

 and character of the stamens afford characters sufficient to distinguish 

 them as separate species. It differs very considerably in the form and 

 appearance of the inflorescence, from the rounded densely crowded 

 head to the almost umbellated panicle, but it is constant in the cha- 

 racter of its flowers and fruit. 



6. L. spica'ta, De Cand. (Fig. 589.) Spiked Mountain Wood Rush. 

 Spike terminal, oblong, lobed, drooping; perianth of six equal acu- 

 minate bristle pointed segments, longer than the roundish ovate 

 mucronate capsule ; leaves channeled at the base, hairy. 



Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 170. English Flora, vol. ii. p. 

 182. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 277. Juncus sjricatus, Linn. English 

 Botauy, 1. 1176. 



Root of numerous long slender branched fibres, bearing a solitary 

 stem, from three to six inches high, sometimes more, erect, round, 

 smooth, somewhat striated, slender, leafy. Leaves around the base of 

 the stem, numerous, short, linear, narrow, soft and spreading, some- 

 what channeled and striated at the base, and on the margins are 

 scattered a few soft white silky hairs, the stem leaves shorter, more 

 channeled, and the base envelopes the stem in rather long sheaths. 

 Spike terminal, drooping, from half an inch to an inch long or more, 

 of numerous crowded lobed flowers, sessile in the bosom of one or two 

 ovate tapering bristle pointed membranous bractea, brown, with a more 

 or less ciliated margin. Perianth of six equal dark brown narrow 

 tapering pieces, the keel terminating in a rather long bristly point. 

 Stamens about half as long as the perianth, with yellow anthers, twist- 

 ing after flowering. Capsule roundish, ovate, obtusely angular, acute 

 at the point, and crowned with the base of the style, three valved, with 

 the margins somewhat thickened, of a dark shining brown colour. 

 Seeds small, pale, somewhat angular, with a slight line on the inner 

 side, and an obscure conical appendage at the base. 



Habitat. High mountains in the North of England and Scotland ; 

 not unfrequent. 



Perennial ; flowering in July. 



This is readily distinguished from all other of our species of Luzula, 

 by its spiked inflorescence, which is more or less remotely lobed ; 

 sometimes the lobes are separated at the base, and rather lax : it is 



