542 CTfPERACEiE. [Eleochavis. 



of the style without teeth, bristles 9 — 13 with deflexed teeth, sta- 

 mens 2." — Br. Fl. p. 477. Leightoii in Loudon's Mag. of Nat. 

 Hist. viii. p. 676. Schcenus, L. : Host. Gram. Aust. iv. 41, t. 72. 

 E. B. t. 9H5. 



On spongy turfy togs, and springy places on heaths and commons, but not fre- 

 quent, i^^. July, August. Zf. 



E. Med. — On the marshy skirts of Lake common, in one or two spots abun- 

 dantly. 



IV. Eleocharis, R. Br. Spike-rush. 



" Spikelets solitary, terminal, many-flowered. Glumes imbri- 

 cated on all sides, uniform, scarcely any empty, lowermost the 

 largest. Hypogynous bristles (4 — 12) toothed, included, rarely 

 none. Style 2 — 3fid, its dilated base jointed upon the germen. 

 Achene mostly lenticular, crowned with the broad indurated corky 

 base of the style. — Marsh plants. Stems simple, leafless, sheathed 

 at the base." — Br. Fl. 



1. !!!•. palustris, E.Br. Creeping-rooted Spike-rush. "Stem 

 rounded, root miich creeping, stigmas 2, fruit lenticular plano- 

 convex crowned with the compressed base of the style shorter 

 than the 4 bristles."— 5r. Fl. p. 478. Scirpus, L. : E. B. t. 131. 

 Host. Gram. Aust. iii. 38, t. 55. 



In wet meadows, ditches, by the sides of pools and other marshy places ; abun- 

 dantly. FL May— July. li. 



E. Med. — In the wet meadow within the walls of Quair abbey. Abundant on 

 Brading marshes, near the sluice. 



2. E. multicaulis, Sm. Many-stalked Spike-rush. " Stem 

 rounded, root scarcely creeping, stigmas 3, fruit obovate trique- 

 trous crowned with the triquetrous base of the style longer than 

 the 6 bristles."— 5r. Fl. p. 479. Scirpus, E. B. t. 1187. Scir- 

 pus palustris &., Linn. Lapp. ed. 2. Fl. Dan. xi. t. 1923. 



On turfy bogs and wet commons ; rare. i^/. May — July. 2^. 



E. Med. — On the marshy skirts of Lake common (the N. side, adjoining San- 

 down level), in considerable plenty. In a boggy pasture between Saynham and 

 Dew's place, 1844. Most abundantly on the boggy S.E. declivity of Bleak down, 

 facing Boude. Bog at Blackpan, Dr. Bell-Salter. 



W. Med. — Bog at Freshwater, Dawson Turner, Esq., Fl. Vect. 



Plant smaller than E. palustris, from about 4 to 8 or 10 inches in height. Root 

 a little creeping, densely caespitose, with whitish flexuose fibres. Culms, both bar- 

 ren and fertile, very numerous, bright green, curved, spreading or inclined, rarely 

 quite erect, round or slightly compressed, faintly grooved or angular, smooth and 

 striate, with exceedingly minute depressed points, and larger, more distant, oblong 

 and pellucid dots; filled internally with a loose aggregate of large tubes or cells, 

 surrounded by smaller ones ; but in none of my specimens can I detect the " stout 

 central pith " mentioned by Hooker on the authority of Mr. Wilson, though I have 

 examined a great many in a fresh state for that purpose, and presume therefore 

 that its appearance is only casual. Sheaths 1 or 2 at the base of each culm, pale 

 brownish or purplish, scarcely shining, the lowermost loose, chaffy, scale-like and 

 acute, the superior long, close, abrupt, with a short, triangular, incurved and thick- 

 ened point. Spikes terminal, solitary, ovato-oblong, very acute. Glumes dull 

 blackish or purplish brown, with narrow, scariose, pale edges, unequal in size, 

 mostly obtuse, the lowest particularly, those near the apex often somewhat acute, 



