SEDGE FAMILY 53 1 



in. high, slender, in dense grass-like tufts ; spikelets nearly white, 

 in a small, compact, terminal cluster, often with one or two 

 smaller, axillary, lateral clusters ; stamens 2. — Spongy bogs ; 

 frequent. — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



7. Schcenus (Bog-rush). — Stiff, rush-like plants; spikelets closely 

 sessile, in compact terminal heads, 1 — 4-flowered, with 3 or 4 

 empty glumes; flowers perfect; perianth of few bristles, or absent ; 

 stamens 3 ; nut not beaked. (Name from the Greek schoinos, a 

 cord, some species having been used in making cordage.) 



1. S. ferrugineus (Brown Bog-rush). — Stems slender, tufted, 

 about a foot high ; spike narrow, oblong, rusty-brown ; lower bract 

 as long as the spike ; glumes in 2 rows, with a smooth keel. — 

 Loch Tummel, Perthshire ; very rare. Perennial. 



2. S. nigricans (Black Bog-rush). — A very similar, but less 

 slender plant; spike obovoid, dark red, brown, or black, of 4 — 10 

 spikelets, with an involucre of 2 — 3 broad, brown, leafy bracts, 

 with stiff points longer than the spike ; glumes with a rough keel. 

 — Bogs ; frequent. — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



8. Cladium (Fen Sedge). — Usually tall, coarse, rough, grassy 

 plants with very numerous terete spikelets in a compound panicle, 

 1 — 3-flowered ; glumes 5 — 6 ; perianth absent ; nut with a thick 

 fleshy coat. (Name from the Greek klados, a twig.) 



1. C. Mariscus (Prickly Fen Sedge). — Rhizome creeping; stem 

 3 — 6 feet high, stout, very leafy ; leaves 2 — 4 feet long, £ in. across, 

 sheathing, keeled, glaucous, stiff, with minute sharp teeth along 

 the keel and margins ; spikelets pale brown, \ in. long, in numer- 

 ous small clusters in corymbose, axillary panicles forming together 

 a terminal leafy panicle a foot or more long ; stamens usually 2 ; 

 nut beaked. — Bogs ; local. This plant used to be so common in 

 the fens near Cambridge, before they were drained, that it was 

 used in that town for lighting fires and for thatch. It forms 

 floating islands in pools, and is still cut as a crop. — Fl. July, 

 August. Perennial. 



9. Kobresia, represented by one species, K. bipartita (Sedge- 

 like Kobresia), a low, densely tufted plant with stiff stems 4 — 8 in. 

 high ; leaves radical, sheathing, wiry, grooved, 2 — 5 in. long ; 

 spikelets 4 or 5, short, brown, closely sessile in a short terminal 

 spike, the upper flower in each spikelet bearing stamens only, and 

 the lower flower an ovary ; perianth absent ; style long, 3-cleft. — 

 Mountainous moorlands in the north ; rare. — Fl. August, Sep- 

 tember. Perennial. (Named after Dr. Kobres, of Augsburg.) 



10. Carex (Sedge). — A large and well-defined genus of herbs 



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