I 4 8 



BRITISH FLORA 



tip. The sheaths are swollen, brown. The flowers 

 are few, 5, greenish, borne on a stout, curved 

 scape, in a terminal, loose raceme, the flower- 

 stalks lengthening in fruit. The perianth-segments 

 are linear to oblong. There are 3 capsules, wh.ch 

 are swollen, and large in proportion to the size of 

 the plant. The plant is 6-8 in. high, flowering in 

 July and August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER CYPERACE^E 



Many-stalked Spike Rush (Heleocharis multi- 

 caulis, Sm.). The habitat of this plant is marshes, 

 pools, chiefly on moorlands. The plant has the 

 rush habit. The rootstock (slightly creeping) is 

 short, with one tuft of leaves and stems. The leaf- 

 stalks are obliquely blunt. The stems are round 

 in section. The sheaths are acute, leafless. The 

 glumes are blunt, with narrow margins, the lowest 

 glume the largest. There are 5-6 bristles. The 

 stigmas are 3. The nuts are 3-angled, oblong to 

 egg-shaped, conical, smooth, crowned with the 

 broad-based, 3-angled style. The plant is 4-12 in. 

 high, flowering in June and July, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Floating Club Rush (Scirpus fluitans, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is marshes and pools, 

 peaty pools, ditches, and ponds. The plant has 

 the club-rush habit, but is floating. The stems 

 are flattened, slender, branched, rooting from the 

 lower nodes, and zigzag, leafy. The leaves are 

 clustered, linear, slender, and on land the plant 

 is tufted, with the leaves sheathed. The flowers 

 have solitary, terminal, egg-shaped spikelets, pale 

 and narrow. The flower-stalks are alternate, with 

 a leaf below. The 4-8 glumes are oblong, bluntly- 

 keeled, membranous at the border, the 2 outer 

 larger, not so long as the spike, and enclosing it. 

 The nut is plano-convex, inversely egg-shaped, 

 flattened, blunt-pointed, pale, smooth. There are 

 2 stigmas, the styles forming a beak to the nut. 

 The plant is 6-18 in. long, and flowers in June 

 and July, being a herbaceous perennial. 



Savi's Club Rush (Scirpus sa-vii, S. & M. = S. 

 filiformis, Savi = S. cernutts, Vahl). The habitat 

 of this plant is damp places in S.W. England, &c., 

 wet bogs in W. Scotland. The plant has the 

 Club-rush habit. The stem is threadlike (hence 

 filiformis). The plant closely resembles 5. sefaceus, 

 but is larger, paler, the leaves longer, 1-2, narrow, 

 channelled. The flowers are in terminal spikes, 

 the spikelets 1-3, or solitary, more or less ter- 

 minal. The lower bract is shorter, longer than 

 the spike, the glumes blunt, hardly short-pointed, 

 greenish, with a brown spot on the upper part 

 each side. The nut is nearly round, not furrowed, 

 3-angled, pale, shining, rough, dotted in lines. 

 The plant is 2-8 in. high, flowering in July and 

 August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Compressed Club Rush (Scirpus compressus, 

 Pers. = 5. caricis, Retz.). The habitat of this 

 plant is wet boggy pastures and marshes. The 

 rootstock is long. The stem is triangular, soli- 

 tary, sheathed below. The leaves are flat, not so 

 long as the stem, grass-like, keeled, with rough 



edges. There are 6-8 flowers in the spikelets, 

 the outer glume in the lowest spikelet having an 

 awl-like point longer than the spike, the spikelets 

 being longer than the bracts. The bracts are 

 leafy, long or short. The spikelets are brown. 

 The lower glumes are ribbed, not so long as the 

 spikelets, reddish-brown. There are 3-6 bristles, 

 strong, persistent, with bent-down teeth. The 

 nut is lenticular, shining, with a persistent style, 

 pale. The plant is 4-10 in. high, flowering in 

 June and July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Alpine Cotton Grass (Eriophorum alpinum, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is marshes and spongy 

 bogs. The plant has the grass habit. The root- 

 stock, which is creeping, gives rise to a number of 

 stems and leaves. The stems are rigid, rough, 

 slender, 3-angled, and the plant is slender and 

 elegant. The leaves are bristle-like, short, chan- 

 nelled, rough. The spike is solitary, erect, oblong, 

 lance-shaped, with few, oblong, narrow spikelets. 

 The glumes are yellowish-brown. The 4-6 bristles 

 are crumpled. The nut is very small, inversely 

 egg-shaped, 3-angled. The plant is 4-8 in. high, 

 and flowers in June. It is a herbaceous perennial. 



Hare's Tail Cotton Grass (Eriophorum vagi- 

 natum, L.). The habitat of this plant is bogs and 

 moors, boggy moors. The habit is as in the last. 

 The rootstock is short. The plant is tufted. The 

 stems are hairless, numerous, triangular above, 

 round in section below, longer in fruit. There are 

 1-2 leafless sheaths above the middle, the upper 

 one inflated. The leaves are slender, long, bristle- 

 like, channelled, 3-sided. The spike is solitary, 

 oblong, with erect, egg-shaped, many-flowered 

 spikelets. The bristles are numerous, straight, 

 not crisped. The glumes are membranous, trans- 

 parent, broadly egg-shaped, olive-green. The 

 nut is inversely egg-shaped, blunt, with a short 

 point, flattened. The plant is 6-10 in. high, and 

 flowers from April to June, being a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Broad-leaved Cotton Grass (Eriophorum lati- 

 folium, Hoppe = E. paniculatum, Druce = E. 

 pubescens, Sm.). The habitat of this plant is 

 marshes and bogs. The plant has the grass 

 habit. The rootstock is short. The stems are 

 rigid, tufted, 3-angled above, hollow. The leaves 

 are flat, the lip short, 3-angled, linear, narrowed 

 above the middle into the short triangular point. 

 The spikes are several, with rough or downy flower- 

 stalks, the spikelets in a cyme. The glumes are 

 lance-shaped, with narrow, membranous borders. 

 The bristles are two to three times as long as the 

 spikes. The nuts are pear-shaped, 3-sided. The 

 plant is 1 2- 1 8 in. high, and flowers between May 

 and July, being a herbaceous perennial. 



Slender Cotton Grass (Eriophorum gracile, 

 Roth). The habitat of this plant is bogs. The 

 habit is as in the above species. The stems are 

 very slender (hence gracile\ rather 3-sided, tall. 

 The leaves are very narrow, 3-sided, channelled, 

 short, linear. The bracts are small, 1-2. There 

 are 4 spikes, with downy flower-stalks. The 

 glumes are broad, blunt, with many ribs, brown. 

 There are 3-6 spikelets. The nuts are narrow, 



