7i6 



THE NATURE BOOK 



like grass. The flowers are either dis- 

 tinct, or grouped in irregular panicles, 

 the seed-capsule being three-celled and 

 containing many seeds. The plant is 

 always associated with more or less 

 marshy or boggy ground. 



If we pull a specimen of Jiinais coin- 



emerge above the surface of the ground, 

 very sharply pointed, and varying in colour 

 from whitish to a bright chestnut. The 

 species has two extreme forms, that of 

 J uncus glomeratiis, or Dense-flowered Rush, 

 and Juncus effiisiis, the Loose-flowered 

 \'ariety. There seem to he very many 



FLOWERING RUSH. 



JLWCUS COMMiWIS. 



ROUND-FRUITED RUSH. 



munis carefully from the ground we find 

 the green leaf emerging from two chestnut- 

 brown sheaths that partially wrap round 

 the base ; the inner one extending five 

 or six inches upwards upon it, the outer, 

 and darker one, for about half the length. 

 These sheaths are of stout texture, ad- 

 mirably waterproof, toughening where 

 they approach the root, and thinner in the 

 upper extremity where they only partly 

 enfold the leaf. The rootstock is a 

 running one, with fibres extending from 

 it ; from the root the young leaf-shoots 



gradations between the two — often found 

 in close proximity to each other. 



In autumn the partially dry stage of 

 the Rushes gives a beautiful mass of 

 orange colour to the landscape, the tips 

 of the leaves and stems being so tinged 

 before they fade later into the varied 

 grey and drab tones so appreciated by 

 the painter. 



The Hard Rush [Jiiiiciis ghiiicus) differs 

 mainly in the more rigid and slighter form 

 of stem, which is finely grooved and of a 

 grey-green colour, and the looser panicle 



