THE RUSHES, GfiASGES, AND FERNS. 261 



their superior attraction of form, and such a fact 

 cannot be wondered at. Our moister and shadier 

 lanes grow them as few gardens can, for more 

 independent and seemingly capricious objects do 

 not exist. 



Let us first glance at some of the Rushes and 

 Sedges which may be easily found during an ordinary 

 country stroll. They are usually an index of a 

 hungry, undrained soil, or of hard, clayey ground. 

 In the dry ditches or hollows by the lane sides you 

 cannot fail to meet with more than one species. 

 Among others may be found, in the later summer 

 months, the Hard Rush (Juncus glaucus), which well 

 deserves its popular name ; its hard, wiry, but 

 slender stems also serving to identify it. The 

 Common Bash (Juncus communis) is no less abundant, 

 though you must seek for it in moister places than 

 the previous species usually affects. It is also larger 

 and softer, and its stems have not the same glaucous 

 colour ; the flowers, though springing from a similar 

 place in the side of the stem, are more bunchy. It 

 is the pith of this species, and of Juncus effusus, that 

 has for such a long time been used as wicks for 

 those candles which go by the name of "Rush- 

 lights." But perhaps the most interesting species 

 is the Toad Rush (Juncus lufonius, Fig. 197). This 

 also loves watery places, especially where there is a 

 subsoil of clay or brickearth. You may generally 

 find it in abundance in deserted brickfields, which 

 it is the first to iniiaoit. it maKes its appearance 



