SEDGE FAMILY 



525 



obovate, 3-angled, with tapering point. — In wet mud ; common. — 

 Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



2. S. ccespitosus (Deer's-hair). — A similar species, with the 

 stem covered at the base for 1 or 2 in. with imbricate sheaths, the 

 outer brown, the inner green, with narrow leafy tips 1 to 2 lines 

 long ; spikelet ovoid, brown, \ — § in. long j outer bract as long as 

 the spikelet, green, stiff; flowers 6 — 8; perianth-bristles 4 — 6; 

 style 3-cleft ; nut brown, obovate, 



pointed. — Bogs ; common. — Fl. 

 June — August. Perennial. 



3. S. nanus (Dwarf Club-rush). — 

 A minute plant, with long, creeping, 

 hair-like rhizome with small tubers 

 and distant, dense tufts, each of 

 several round, grooved stems, 1—2 

 in. high, each with a close-pressed, 

 transparent sheath; spikelet minute, 

 pale ; outer bract short, blunt, flower- 

 less ; perianth of 4 — 8 bristles ; nut 

 obovate, 3-angled, pale.- -Sandy 

 sea-shores in the south; rare. — Fl. 

 July. Annual. 



** Spikelets small, lateral, sessile, 

 clustered, or sometimes solitary ; 

 perianth absent 



4. S. fluitans (Floating Mud- 

 rush). — A slender floating plant, 

 rooting from its lower nodes and 

 much branched in a zigzag manner; 

 /eaves linear, very slender, 1 — 2 in. 

 long ; spikelet solitary, terminal, 

 ovate, pale ; outer bracts 2, shorter 

 than the spikelet enclosing it ; 

 flowers few ; stigmas 2 ; nut obovate, 

 smooth, pointed, pale. — Ditches ; 

 common. — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



5. 6". filiformis (Savi's Alud-rush). — A slender, tufted plant, 3 — 

 10 in. high, with 1 or 2 narrow, channelled leaves ; spikelets 1 — 

 3, sometimes an inch long; outer bracts not longer than the 

 spikelet ; stigmas 3 ; fruit sub-globose, 3-angled, pale, shining, 

 rough, with lines of minute raised points. — Bogs ; rare. — Fl. July. 

 Perennial. 



6. £ setdceus (Bristle-like Mud-rush). 



SCiRPUS setAceus 

 {Bristle-like Mud-rusk). 



-A very similar, but 



