BOGS AND MARSHES 



149 



oblong to linear, inversely egg-shaped to lance- 

 shaped, 3-sided. The bristles are twice as long as 

 the spike. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering in 

 June and July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Brown Beak Rush (Rhynchospora fusca, Ait.). 

 The habitat of this plant is spongy bogs. The 

 plant has the sedge habit. The rootstock is longer 

 than in the next, and the plant is widely creeping. 

 The leaves are slender. The spikelets are in an 

 oval head, much shorter than the outer bracts. 

 The spikelets are brown (hence fusca). There are 

 3 stamens. The 6 bristles have ascending teeth. 

 There are erect teeth at the base of the style. 

 The anther-stalks are swollen. The fruit is in- 

 versely egg-shaped, as long as the triangular, 

 toothed tubercles. The plant is 6-12 in. high. It 

 flowers in June and July, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



White Beak Rush (Rhynchospora alba, Vahl). 

 The habitat of this plant is spongy bogs, turfy 

 bogs, wet meadows. The habit is the sedge 

 habit. The rootstock is short. The plant is some- 

 what creeping. The stems are slender, 3-angled 

 above. The leaves are somewhat bristle-like, 

 channelled, very narrow, linear. The flowers are 

 in a compact corymb, terminal and axillary, flat- 

 topped, on long stalks. The spikelets are pale- 

 flowered, crowded, white (hence alba) or pale- 

 brown, as long as the outer bracts. There are 2 

 stamens, with slender anther-stalks. The style 

 has no teeth at the base. The bristles have bent- 

 down teeth. The glumes are oblong to lance- 

 shaped, long-pointed, membranous, keeled. The 

 fruit is inversely egg-shaped, narrowed below, 

 equalling the swollen tubercle (hence Rhyncho- 

 spora). The plant is 6-18 in. high, flowering in 

 June and July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Black Bog Rush (Schcenus nigricans, L.). The 

 habitat of this rush is turfy bogs and wet moors. 

 The plant has the sedge habit. The rootstock is 

 stout, short, branched, the root with strong, black 

 fibres. The stems are round in section, naked, in 

 dense, hard tufts, with matted sheaths, blackish- 

 brown, smooth, shining scales ending in bristle- 

 like, erect leaves, shorter than the stem and leaves, 

 wiry, leafless above. The leaves are round in 

 section, the margins convolute. The 5-10 spike- 

 lets are in a terminal, inversely egg-shaped spike, 

 much shorter than the bract, dark-red-brown, or 

 black, shining. The bracts are bristle-like. The 

 spikelets are erect, linear to oblong. The glumes 

 are irregularly 2-ranked, oblong to lance-shaped, 

 more or less acute, with a rough keel. The bristles 

 have ascending teeth above, and are short and 

 rough. There are 3 stigmas. The anthers are 

 pointed. The nut is small, egg-shaped, white. 

 The plant is 6-24 in. high, flowering in June and 

 July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Dioecious Sedge (Carex dioica, L.). The habi- 

 tat of this sedge is spongy bogs and moorland. 

 The plant has the sedge habit. The rootstock is 

 creeping and stoloniferous. The stems are round 

 in section, finely-furrowed, wiry. The leaves are 

 bristle-like, smooth, round in section. The spike- 

 lets have no bracts, and are narrow, cylindrical, 



the fertile ones dense, egg-shaped. The glumes 

 are egg-shaped, brown, soon falling. There may 

 be male spikelets below. The glumes are numer- 

 ous. The fruit is bent down, plano-convex, erect 

 or spreading, stalkless, egg-shaped, beaked, 

 toothed at the border, ribbed. The nut is oval, 

 roundish, lenticular, chestnut-brown. The plant 

 is 4-10 in. high, flowering in May and June, and is 

 a herbaceous perennial. 



Daval's Sedge (Carex davalliana, Sm.). The 

 habitat of this sedge is bogs. The habit is the 

 grass habit with a tufted root. The stem is rough, 

 slender, erect. The leaves are rough, bristle-like, 

 flat. The plant is dioecious. There is a single ter- 

 minal spikelet, oblong. The male flower has very 

 narrow, oblong glumes, In the female they are 

 egg-shaped, with a long point, chestnut, with no 

 bracts. The fruit is reflexed, stalkless, beaked, 

 lance-shaped, egg-shaped, with rough angles 

 above. The stigmas are 2. The nut is oblong. 

 The plant is 4-6 in. in height. It flowers in May 

 and June, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Flea Sedge (Carex pulicaris, L.). -The habitat 

 of this species is bogs. The plant has the sedge 

 habit. The rootstock is tufted, shortly stolonifer- 

 ous. The stems are smooth, rigid, round in sec- 

 tion, grooved. The leaves are bristle-like, slender, 

 erect, longer than the stem, with the margin 

 inrolled. The spike is barren above, the spikelets 

 without bracts. There are 6-12 glumes, the lower 

 distant, egg-shaped to oblong, acute, half as long 

 as the fruit. The fruit is bent-back, egg-shaped, 

 lance-shaped, stalked, triangular, flea-like (hence 

 pulicaris], flattened, beaked, pale. The racheola 

 or rudimentary rachis at the base of the ovary is 

 linear, sometimes bearing flowers. The nut is 

 oblong, plano-convex, grey or dark brown. The 

 plant is 3-8 in. long, and flowers between May 

 and July. It is a herbaceous perennial. 



Carex chordorrhiza, Ehrh. The habitat of this 

 sedge is Scotch spongy bogs. The plant has the 

 sedgehabit. Thestemsaresmooth, erect, branched, 

 and have short, sheathing leaves at the base, and 

 are longer than the leaves. The spikelets are 

 crowded in a small, shortly egg-shaped head. 

 The bracts are long-pointed, membranous, the 

 lower equalling the spike. The glumes are blunt, 

 with a membranous margin. The fruit is inflated, 

 egg-shaped, brown, shining, with dark-brown 

 veins, narrowed suddenly to a small beak, divided 

 into 2 nearly to the base. The nut is round. The 

 plant is 6-12 in. high, and flowers in July and 

 August, being a herbaceous perennial. 



Carex /eretiuscufa, Good.( = C. diandra, Schrank). 

 The habitat of this species is bogs and meadows, 

 boggy meadows. The plant has the sedge habit. 

 The rootstock is obliquely creeping, forming scat- 

 tered tufts. The stems are wiry, slender, 3-angled, 

 with convex sides, rough above. The spike is 

 dense, broad, compound, oblong. The spikelets 

 are few. The fruit is egg-shaped, brown, shining, 

 spreading, swollen, few-nerved, longer than the 

 egg-shaped, long, narrow-pointed glumes, ribbed 

 on the back, with 2-4 central ribs spreading from 

 the base, and meeting under the beak. The beak 



