The Book of Grasses 



that bloom in midsummer and are usually found in moist soils. 

 The stems are low and slender (three to sixteen inches in height) 

 with narrow leaves and very narrow greenish brown spikelets 

 borne on the slender branches of the umbels. There are no 

 bristles surrounding the triangular whitish seed, and as the spike- 

 lets are not clustered, but are borne in loose terminal umbels, these 

 sedges can hardly be mistaken for others that grow in similar 

 locations. 



CLUB-RUSHES and BULRUSHES. {Scirpus) 

 "Can the rush grow up without mire?" 



The sedges of this genus are usually known as " rushes," and 

 are common in shallow streams, in swamps, and in marshes. The 

 species vary greatly in appearance; some are low and slender, 

 being but a few inches in height, others are tall, leafless, and rush- 

 like, while still others are broad-leaved and bear conspicuous 

 flowering umbels. 



Several of these plants were long ago noticed in homely arts. 

 Mats and ropes have been made of Bulrushes, and in early colonial 

 days chair-bottoms of beautiful workmanship were fashioned of 

 the Chair-maker's Rush {Scirpus americanus) and the Great Bul- 

 rush (Sctrpis vdlidus), plants which are common in shallow water 

 and by the borders of ponds throughout North America. 



Chair-maker's Rush, recognized by its stiff, triangular stems, 

 is found in salt-water marshes and also by inland streams. The 

 stems, often shoulder-high, bear one to three leaves, and the 

 flowers are borne in one to seven oblong, brown spikelets about 

 one half an inch long. Although the cluster of spikelets is term- 

 inal it appears as if it were lateral, since the solitary leaf at the 

 base of the cluster rises like a continuation of the stem. 



The Salt-marsh Bulrush (Scirpus robustus) is a striking plant 

 of the genus and is found most frequently near the coasts. The 

 stout, sharply angled stems are from one to five feet tall and bear 

 a dense, compact inflorescence composed of a cluster of five to 

 twenty large, oblong, brownish spikelets, some of which are 

 sessile while others are borne on short rays one to two inches in 

 length. 



The Great Bulrush, occasionally nine feet in height, and some- 

 times an inch in diameter at the base, is leafless and stout. The 



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