50 



-«€IRPUS. [class III. ORDER I. 



/S. monosla'chys; " spikelets solitaiy, witli a sliorter involucral brac- 

 lea." 



Root fibrous, with creepiug iinclergrouud stems. Stems from eight 

 lo twelve inches high, erect, branched near the base. Leaves slender, 

 setaceous, unequal in length, sheathing at the base. Involucre of two 

 unequal opposite leaves, much longer than the spikelets, which are ter- 

 minal, ovate, sessile, unequal in size. Glumes ovate acute, pale, striated 

 and keeled. Stamens three. Stigmas three. Fruit globular, rough, 

 Avith elevated points. Bristles none. 



Habitat. — Bogs, rare. Renoyle, Ireland, Carreg, Ormeu, Anglesea, 

 Jersey, Devonshire. /3. Cork. 

 Perennial ; flowering in July. 



5. >S'. tri'queier, Linn. (Fig. 72.) triangular Club-rush. Spikelets 

 ovate sessile, and stalked, stem sharply triangular, terminating 

 in a straight tapering point, fruit smooth. 



English Botany, t. 1694. — English Flora, vol. i. p. 60. — Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 281. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 28. 



Root entangled, forming thick matted tufts, and sending out creep- 

 ing stems. Stems two to four feet high, erect, smooth, acutely trian- 

 gular, naked upwards, leafy at the base. Leaves short, acute, with a 

 long sheath at the base, and numerous imperfect ones surrounding it; 

 frequently there is only one leaf. Spikelets ovate or oblong, some ses- 

 sile, others on short triangular peduncles, growing from a lateral cleft 

 on the side of the stem often several inches below the extremity, occa- 

 sionally with a short lanceolate bractea. Glumes elliptical, closely and 

 regularly imbricated, keeled, pointed, and beautifully fringed, of a 

 reddish-brown colour. Staiiiens about the same length as the style. 

 Stigmas two. Bristles ihree, rough. 5'ee(Zrouudish, smooth, shining. — 

 p. of English Botany is said to be found near the sea, and to be more 

 hard and rigid in its stem. 



Habitat. — Banks and sides of rivers, near London ; in the Thames 

 at Lambeth, Battersea, 5cc. 



Perennial ; flowering in August. 



6. ,S'. mari'timus, Linn. (Fig. 73.) salt-marsh Club-rush. Spikelets 

 oblong, terminal, sessile and stalked, involucre of several foliaceous 

 leaflets, stem triangular, leafy, glumes notched, the keel termina- 

 ting in a point between the segments of the notch. 



English Botany, t. 542. — English Flora, vol. i. p. 62. — Lindley, Sy- 

 nopsis, p. 281. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 29. 



Root fibrous, sometimes with creeping stems, which swell into tubers. 

 Stem from one to three feet high, tufted, tiiangular, frequently rough 

 at the angles, leafy. Leaves frequently as long as the stem, linear, 

 acuminated, flat, sliglitly keeled, roughish at the edges, and enveloping 

 the stem with their striated sheaths, sometimes in luxuriant plants the 



