24? LETTER XX. 



Now you will observe that in all that relates to the 

 sepals, petals, and stamens, there appears to be 

 nothing to distinguish a Rush from the Asphodel 

 tribe ; the fruit would seem essentially difiFerent, 

 because of its having only one cell ; but in the true 

 Rushes (Juncus) the fruit has three cells, so that that 

 difference is unimportant. In fact if we neglect the 

 texture, colour, and imperfect degree of develope- 

 ment of the calyx and corolla, there will be hardly 

 any means of separating Rushes from Asphodels, 

 except the softness of the skin of their seeds. That 

 the former do represent an inferior order of vegeta- 

 tion, there can, however, be no reasonable doubt ; we 

 accordingly consider them among the most imperfect 

 of reo-ular Monocotyledons, Asphodels being an inter- 

 mediate degree of developement, and Lilies the 

 highest degree. 



Rushes are of so little use in any of the ordinary 

 affairs of life, that it is scarcely worth occupying more 

 time with their study. The plants from whose stems 

 are made what are called rush-bottomed chairs, rush- 

 mats, and the like, are usually species of Club-Rush, 

 and belong to the Sedge tribe, to which we shall now 

 come very shortly. 



The orders of Monocotyledonous plants which we 

 have examined, and several others that have not been 

 mentioned, form what may be considered a natural 

 subdivision, characterised by the perfect and com- 

 plete manner in which their flowers are organized. 

 In no case do they exhibit fewer than six divisions, of 

 which three belong to the calvx, and three to the 



