536 THE BUSH TAMIIT. 



Stems rigid. 

 Stems tufted, rather slender. Panicle loose. Perianth-seg- 

 ments very narrow 2. Sard R. 



Stems very stiff. Rootstock creeping. Panicle many- 

 flowered. Perianth-segments nearly ovate .... 4. Baltic's. 

 Leaves (sometimes cylindrical and stem-like) either on the stem 

 or under the panicle, or forming leafy tips to the sheathing- 

 scales at th? base of the stem. 

 JLeares cylindrical and hollow, but with internal cross partitiOTiSj 

 which malce them loolc jointed when dry. 



Perianth-segments more or less pointed 5. Jointed R. 



Perianth-segments all obtuse 6. Obtuse R. 



Leaves and outer bracts cylindrical, veri^ stiff, with prickly points. 



Capsule much longer than the perianth 12. Sharp R. 



Capsule not longer thaL. the perianth 11 . Sea R. 



Jjcaoes neither jointed nor prickly (usually channelled , or slender , 

 or spreading) . 

 IJeaves all radical or nearly so (except the outer leaf-like 

 bract) , and much shorter than the stem. 



Flowers not clustered, in a loose panicle 8. Seath R. 



Flowers in one or two terminal heads. 



Heads soUtary, with 2 to 4 flowers 15. Two-flowered B. 



Heads 1 or 2, with 6 to 8 flowers in each 14. Chestnut R. 



One or two leaves on the stem below the panicle. 

 Small annuals. Flowers pale-coloured. 

 Flowers distinct, in a much branched, leafy panicle, oc- 

 cupying the greater part of the plant 9. Toad R. 



Flowers coUected in one or two terminal heads . . .10. Capitate R. 

 Perennials. Flowers brown. 

 Flowers several, distinct, in a loose panicle. Outer 



bract short 7. Round-fruited R. 



Flowers very few on each stem, distinct. Outer bracts 



very long and slender 13. Highland R. 



Flowers 6 or 3 together in terminal heads 14. Chestnut R. 



These species are well distributed into two sections. In the one, com- 

 prising the ten first of the following species, the seeds are ovate or oblong, 

 scarcely pointed. In the second section, to which belong the five last species 

 (11 to 15), the testa of the seed is extended at each end into a httle tail- like 

 appendage. 



1. Common Rush. Juncus communis, Mey. 

 {J. conglomeratus, Eng. Bot. t. 835, and J. effusus, t. 836.) 



The shortly creeping matted rootstock bears dense tufts of cylindrical 

 leafless stems, 2 to 3 feet high or even more, erect, but soft and phable, 

 sheathed at the base by a few brown scales. Some of these stems remain 

 barren so as to resemble leaves ; others bear, on one side, at 4 to 6 or 8 inches 

 below the top, a densely clustered panicle of small green or brown flowers ; 

 the very numerous peduncles vary from a line or two to above an inch in ' 

 length, the central smaller ones have but 2 or 3 flowers, the othei'S a con- 

 siderable number in UTegular cymes. Perianth-segments about a line long, 

 very pointed. Capsule about as long, very obtuse or even notched. Stamens I 

 visually 3 only. 



In wet situations, almost all over the northern hemisphere and in many 

 parts of the southern one. In Britain, one of the commonest species. Fl. ( 

 summer. Two extreme forms are usually distinguished as species, the dense- 

 jlowered R. (J. conglomeratus), with the flowers densely packed in close ! 

 clusters of about an inch diameter, usually brown; and the loose-flowered H. 

 {J. effusus), vrith the panicles much looser, often 2 to 3 inches diameter, and | 

 paler-coloured ; but every gradation may be observed between them in this I 

 respect, as well as in other more minute characters which have been assigned j 

 to them respectively. 



