CYPERACEiT?. 53 



inches hi<rh, nnd rarely more than a foot. Spikes very similar to tliose 

 of S. eu-palustris, but more fusiform; glumes much darker brown, 

 and usually without any green midrib, and with the pale scarious 

 mai'gins nuich narrower, the lowest glume much larger, longer in 

 proportion, and more acute, its two edges nearly meeting round the 

 base of the spike ; nut much more evidently punctate-striate, some- 

 times conspicuously so, especially in var. 0, which appears to have no 

 claims to be considered even a sub-species. 



Link's Club-riish. 



French, Scirjye a una valve. German, Eh>hahi(jcs Ried. 



SPECIES III.— S CIRPUS MULTICAULIS. Sm. 



Plate MDLXXXVlil. 



Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. et. Helv. Vol. VHI. Tab. CCXCVI. Fig. 702. 

 (H)Eleocharis multicanlis, Sm. Engl. Fl. Vol. I. p. 64. Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. vi. 

 p. 371. Hook. & Am. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 492, et Auct. Pirn-. 



Rootstock very shortly creeping, producing a tuft of stems at the 

 apex only. Stems erect or ascending, rather stout, subcompressed- 

 terete, faintly striate, leafless; basal sheaths leafless, rather obliquely 

 truncate. Spike rather small, oblong-fusiform, many-flowered. Glumes 

 lanceolate, pale brown or reddish brown, with narrow pale scarious 

 margins; lowest glume shorter and blunter than the others, wholly 

 surrounding the base of the spike ; upper ones subobtuse. Hypogy- 

 nous bi'istles usually 5 or 6. Stigmas 3, more rarely 2. Nut rather 

 large, turbinate-triquetrous, or (when there are only 2 stigmas) lenti- 

 cular and biconvex, nearly smooth, crowned with the deltoid-triangular 

 acuminate triquetrous base of the style. 



In marshy places and heaths and by the sides of ditches on moor- 

 land. Rather local, but generally distributed over England and Scot- 

 land. Frequent in the west of Ii-eland, but rare in the other parts of 

 the island. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Late Summer, 

 Autumn. 



Similar in habit to S. palustris, especially to the sub-species S. unl- 

 glumis, but the root, though creeping, produces only a single tuft of 

 stems at the apex instead of several at intervals throughout its leno-th. 

 Stems numerous, usually diverging, and frequently recurved, 3 to 9 

 inches high, but sometimes, when growing in water, quite erect, and 

 12 to 18 inches high ; basal sheaths truncate so as to leave an acute 

 point on one side. Spikes J- to J inch long, with the glumes blunter 

 and paler brown than in S. eu-palustris, the midril) {>ale brown or green, 

 the margins narrowly scarious, but scarcely white ; base of the lowest 



