TYPIIACE^. 3 



Var. /3, media. 

 T. media, B.C. Fl. Fr. Vol. V. p. 302. 



Leaves \ to f inch broad. Male and female spikes separated by a 

 short interval. 



In pools and ditches. Not uncommon, and generally distributed in 

 England. Rare in Scotland, where I have seen it wild only in Wig- 

 tonshire; but it is recorded from the counties of Renfrew, Forfar, 

 and JNIoray, and said by Neill to have formerly occurred in Orkney, 

 but to be now extinct through drainage. Frequent throughout Ire- 

 land. Var. /3 in the bog near the windmill on Wimbledon Common, 

 Surrey. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Summer. 



Rootstock thick, creeping, stoloniferous, sending up tufts of di- 

 stichous leaves sheathing at the base, 3 to 6 feet high, varying in 

 Ijreadth from ^ to 1^ inch. Flowering spike rather shorter than the 

 leaves, supported on a stout straight unbranched stem. Anthers 

 yellow. Female spikes 5 to 9 inches long, at first about ^ inch in 

 diameter and olive brown, in fruit about 1 mch across and blackish, 

 by which time the male spike is reduced to a naked I'achis. Fruit 

 with tine light brown haii'S on the stalk. 



Commo7i Cat's Tail. 

 Frencli, Massette a larges feuilles. German, Breithldttn'ges Kolbenrolir. 



This plant is known by the name of bulrush, cat's tail, or reed mace, and grows 

 abundantly in pools or low streams, and is generally associated with the yellow ii-is 

 and the common reed. It was known to the ancients. (FUn. 16, 36.) 



The leaves of this plant are used largely by coopers to place between the staves of 

 casks and tubs, to render them water-tight. The pollen from the sterile flowers is 

 exceedingly inflammable, and is employed by the makers of fireworks as a substitute 

 for that of the club moss. The down of the amentum has been used to stuff" cushions 

 and mattresses. AH the species of cats' tails are very ornamental on the margins of 

 lakes and pieces of water, and they afford favourable shelter to wild fowl ; but as they 

 increase rapidly, they must be cautiously introduced when the pool is small. This is 

 the plant chosen generally by the early painters to represent the reed which was 

 placed in our Saviour's right hand during His mockeiy by the Roman soldiers. In 

 England the leaves are sometimes woven into mats and baskets, and occasionally 

 cottages are thatched with them. In Dr. Clarke's travels we read that the stems of 

 this species of grass are a favourite food with the Cossacks. Dr. Clarke calls it a cool 

 and pleasant vegetable ; but states that he was told by several Cossack officers, who 

 had been in other countries, that it is only fit for food when it grows in the marshes 

 of the Don. 



