Juncus.] LXXXVI. JUNCACE^. 469 



anthers opening inwards. Styles single, with 3 slender stigmas. 

 Capsule 1- or 3-celled, opening in 3 valves, with few or many 

 small seeds. 



A small family, abundantly spread over the whole surface of the globe, 

 with almost all the technical characters of the Lily family except the 

 consistence of the perianth, whilst the general aspect brings it nearer 

 to the Sedges and the Grasses. 



Capsule 3-celled, with many seeds. Leaves cylindrical, at least at their 



tips, or rarely flat 1. Juncus. 



Capsule 1-celled, with 3 seeds. Leaves flat and grass-like ... 2. Luzula. 



I. JUNCUS. BUSH. 



Leaves stiff and glabrous, cylindrical, at least at the tips, or terete 

 and grooved, or very rarely flat and grass-like. Flowers either distinct 

 or in little clusters, usually arranged in irregular panicles ; the branches 

 very unequal in length, with a dry sheathing bract (like the glumes of 

 Sedges and Grasses) under each ramification, cluster, or flower ; the outer 

 bract or bracts often ending in a long leaf -like point, in some species 

 appearing like a continuation of the stem. Stamens 6, rarely 3. Cap- 

 sule 3-celled, with numerous small seeds. 



The principal genus of the Order, and co-extensive in its geographical 

 range. The species are almost all inhabitants of marshy, boggy, or wet 

 ground, and several are almost cosmopolitan. 



Stems quite leafless, except the brown sheathing scales at the 

 base, which have no leafy tips. Mowers in a lateral cluster. 

 Stems soft and pliable. 

 Flowers very numerous. Perianth about 1 line long . . 1. J. communis. 

 Flowers few, about halfway up the stem. Perianth about 2 



lines long 3. J. filiformis. 



Stems rigid. 

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

 ments very narrow 2. J. glaucus. 



Stems very stiff. Rootstock creeping. Panicle many-flowered. 



Perianth segments nearly ovate 4. J. balticus. 



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

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

 scales at the base of the stem. 

 Leaves cylindrical and hollow, but with internal cross partitions, 

 which make them look jointed when dry. 



Perianth-segments more or less pointed 5. J. articirfatus. 



Perianth-segments all obtuse 6. J. obtusijiorus. 



Leaves and outer bracts cylindrical, very stiff, with prickly 

 points. 



Capsule much longer than the perianth 13. J", acutus. 



Capsule not longer than the perianth 12. J. maritimus. 



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



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

 bract), and much shorter than the stem. 

 Flowers not clustered, in a loose panicle . . . . 9. J. squarrosus. 

 Flowers in 1 or 2 terminal heads. 

 Heads solitary, with 2 to 4 flowers .... . 17. J. bight mis. 

 Heads 1 or 2, with 6 to 8 flowers in each . . . . 16. J. castaneus. 

 1 or 2 leaves on the stem below the panicle. 

 Small annuals. Flowers pale-coloured. 

 Flowers distinct, in a much branched, leafy panicle, 



occupying the greater part of the plant . . .10. J. bvfonius. 

 Flowers collected in 1 or few terminal heads. 



