894 



THE SEDGE FAMILY. 



Spikelets very small but very numerous, densely 



packed in one or more small, globular heads 9. Clustered S. 

 Spikelets rather large, in a cluster or irregular 



umbel 12. Lake S. 



Stems bearing several long leaves. 



Spikelets large, brown, in a sessile cluster or close 



compound umbel 13. Sea S. 



Spikelets small, green, very numerous, in a large, 

 loose, compound panicle 14. Wood S. 



1. Needle Scirpus, Scirpus acicularis, Linn. (Fig. 1075.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 749. JEleocharis, Brit. ¥1.) 



A little, slender, tufted plant, with 

 the appearance of an annual, but emit- 

 ting thread-like, creeping rcotstocks ; 

 the fine subulate stems scarcely 2 

 inches high, with short sheaths at their 

 base, and most of them bearing a single 

 terminal oblong spikelet, not 2 lines 

 long, of a dark-browm colour, the outer 

 bract similar to the glumes. Flowers 

 usually 6 to 8 in the spikelet. Hypo- 

 gynous bristles 3 or 4. Styles 3-cleft. 

 Nut obovoid, slightly triangular. 



In w r et, sandy places, the margins of 

 lakes, etc., widely spread over Europe 

 and central and [Russian Asia, and north 

 America. Not uncommon in England, 

 Ireland, and some parts of Scotland. 

 Fl. summer and autumn. 



Fig. 1075. 



2. Creeping Scirpus. Scirpus palustris, Linn. (Fig. 1076.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 131. Meocharis, Brit. FL) 



Rootstock often creeping to a considerable extent, with numerous 

 erect stems, often densely tufted, and not 6 inches high at the edge of 

 the water, more distant, and a foot high or more when in the water ; 

 all leafless, except one or two short sheaths at their base, without 

 leafy tips. Spikelets solitary and terminal, oblong, 4 to 6 lines long. 

 Glumes numerous, closely imbricated, brown, withscarious edges, and 

 green on the midrib; the outer bract only differing from the glumes 

 in being rather larger. Hypogynous bristles usually 4. Style 2-cleft. 

 Nut obovate, crowned by a little conical tubercle, being the persistent 

 base of the style. 



