Heleochabis.] CYBERACE^. 441 



1. H. palus'tris, Br. ; rootstock stout creeping branched with many 

 tufts of leaves and stems, lowest glume broadest, bristles 4-6, nut com- 

 pressed, stigmas 2. 



Marshes, lake borders, and ditches, N. to Sutherland ; ascends to 1,200 ft. in 

 Yorkshire; Ireland; Channel Islands; fl. June-July. — Rootstock elougate, 

 black. Stems 6-18 in., stout or slender, slightly compressed. Sheatlis 2, 

 brown, truncate, leafless. Spike £-§ in., terete, narrow-ovoid, red-brown. 

 Glumes lanceolate, subacute; lowest much shortest, obtuse. Anthers 

 apiculate. Nut compressed, obovate, striate, top triangular. — Distrib. 

 Europe (Arctic), N. Africa, N. Asia, N. India, 1ST. America. 



H. palus'tris proper ; glumes dark, keel green, edges pale, lowest suborbicular 

 half-embracing the base of the spikelet, nut faintly striate. 



Sub-sp. H. unigiaj'mis, Link ; glumes brown, edges narrow pale, lowest ovate 

 almost embracing the base of the spikelet. Less common.— H. Watso'ni, 

 Bab., from Argyll and Wicklow, is a short, more rigid form with dark brown 

 glumes, lowest embracing the base of the spikelet, and nut more evidently 

 punctate in lines longer than the bristles. 



2. H. multicaulis, Sm. ; rootstock short with one tuft of leaves and 

 stems, lowest glume largest, bristles 5-6, fruit 3-gonous, stigmas 3. 



Marshes, pools, &c, chiefly on moorlands, N. to Orkney ; Ireland ; Channel 

 Islands; fl. July- Aug.— Similar to H. palus'tris, but differs in habit, in the 

 obliquely truncate leaf-sheaths, and usually blunter glumes with narrower 

 margins. Nut hardly striate. — Distrib. N. Europe, 1ST. America. 



3. H. acicula'ris, Sm. ; rootstock stoloniferous, stems setaceous 

 obtusely 4-gonous grooved, spikelets minute, glumes ovate obtuse, lowest 

 broadest, bristles 1-3, nut 3-gonous ribbed, stigmas 3. 



Sandy edges of lakes and pools, from Forfar and the Clyde to Surrey and 

 Cornwall, rare in Scotland ; W. Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. July- Aug. — 

 Stolons capillary. Stems many, 2-8 *in., extremely slender. Sheaths 

 membranous, acute. Spikelets §-J in., compressed, red-brown. Nut very 

 minute, pale, top subglobose.— Distrib. N. and Mid. Europe (Arctic), 

 N.W. India, N. America. 



3. SCIR PUS, L. 



Leafy or leafless, usually tall, marsh- or water-plants ; rootstock creeping. 

 Spikelets several, in terminal or lateral cymes heads or clusters, or solitary, 

 terete or compressed. Glumes imbricate all round the rachis or distichous, 

 all but the 1-2 lowest flower-bearing. Flowers 2-sexual. Bristles 1-6, 

 included, or 0. Stamens 3. Style 2-3-cleft, not swollen at the base, 

 deciduous. Nut compressed or 3-gonous, top not swollen. — Distbib. All 

 climates ; species about 300. — Etym. The old Latin name. 



Section 1. Spikelets large, lateral or terminal, cymose or clustered 

 and sessile j glumes numerous. Bristles 1-6. 



