66 ENGLISH BOTANY, 



and always resembling a prolongation of the stem, longer than the 

 panicle. Glumes oval-obovate, deeply notched, mncronate, reddish- 

 or olive-brown, sometimes fimbriate-ciliate, smooth ; lobes obtuse. 

 Stigmas 2. Hj'pogj'nous bristles 2 to 6, shorter than the nut. Nut 

 obovate, slightly acuminate-mucronate, plano-convex, smooth, shining. 



Var. a, vulgaris. Reich. 



Flowers in an umbellato-corymbose panicle, with the lower branches 

 more or less elongated. 



Var. /3, conglomeratus. Reich. 



Spikes all sessile, collected into a head. 



On the muddy banks of tidal rivers. Very local. Not unfrequent 

 on the banks of the Thames, on both sides of the river from Battersea 

 to Kew. On the banks of the Arun near Amberley, Sussex. 



England. Perennial. Autumn. 



Rootstock similar to that of S. lacustris, but more slender, and 

 with the stems usually more remote. Stems 18 inches to 4 feet high, 

 with a triangular section, two of the sides flat, the third grooved, with 

 three sharp angles; uppermost sheaths with -the lamina 2 to 4 inches 

 long, tapering to a sharp point. Lowest bract 1 to 3 inches long. 

 Spikes less immerous than is usually the case in any of the forms of 

 S. lacustris, with the glumes commonly with paler margins, and often 

 more or less green on the midrib. Anthers pale yellow, with a short 

 and rather obtuse smooth apiculus. Nut (which I have never seen 

 ripen in tlie British plant) about -j'^^ inch long, less rounded at the 

 apex, pale brown, much more shining and less evidently marked with 

 short strias than in any of the forms of S. lacustris. 



Three-edged Bullritvh. 

 French, Scirpe triangulaire. German, PoUiclis Simse. 



SPECIES xni.— S CIRPUS PUNGENS. Vahl. 



Plate MDC. 



BeicJi. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. VIII. Tab. CCCIV. 



Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 1084. 



S. Rothji, Hojqie; Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et Helv. ed. ii. p. 857. Greii. & Godr. Fl. 



de Fr. Vol. III. p. 375. 

 S. tenuifolius, D.G. Fl. Fr. Vol. VI. p. 300. 

 (H)Eleogiton pungens, Eeich. Fl. Germ. Excurs. p. 78. 



Not cajspitose. Rootstock extensively creejiing, its branches with 

 the stems placed at intervals one before the other. Stems several. 



