900 



THE SEDGE FAMILY. 



ward chiefly in western Europe to Denmark. Eare in Britain, and 

 probably limited to the banks of the Arun, in Sussex, and of the 

 Thames, near London. Fl. late in summer. 



12. Lake Scirpus. 



Scirpus lacustris, Linn. (Fig. 1086.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 666.) 



Rootstock creeping, with stout, erect 

 stems, from 2 or 3, to 6 or 8 feet high, 

 cylindrical at the base, gradually taper- 

 ing upwards, and sometimes obtusely 

 triangular near the top, with a single 

 short leaf near the base. Spikelets 

 ovoid or oblong, 3 to 6 lines long, rather 

 numerous, in a compound lateral umbel 

 or cluster, the outer bract continuing 

 the stem. Glumes numerous, broad, 

 brown, fringed at the edge, notched at 

 the top, with a little point in the notch. 

 Hypogynous bristles 5 or 6. Style 2- 

 or 3- cleft. JN"ut smooth. 



On the margins of lakes and ponds, 

 and in watery ditches, extending all 

 over Europe and Russian Asia, from the 

 Mediterranean to the Arctic regions, 

 and in North America. Abundant in 

 Britain. Fl. summer. Two varieties 

 are often distinguished as species, the 

 S. lacustris, with 3-cleft style and smooth glumes, and the S. tabernce- 

 montani, or S. glaucus (Eng. Bot. t. 2321), with a 2-cleft style and 

 raised dots on the glumes ; but these characters are very inconstant, 

 and there are often 2-cleft and 3-cleft styles in the same spikelet. The 

 name of S. Duvalii, or S. carinatus (Eng. Bot. t. 1913), is sometimes 

 given to a variety of the lake S. with the stems rather more triangular 

 at the top, sometimes to a slight variety of the triangular S. 



13. Sea Scirpus. Scirpus maritimus, Linn. (Fig. 1087.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 542.) 



Eootstock creeping. Stems sharply triangular, 2 to 4 or even 5 

 feet high, with long, flat, pointed leaves, often far exceeding the stem. 

 Spikelets of a rich brown, ovoid or lanceolate, about 9 lines long, 

 sometimes only 2 or 3 in a close sessile cluster, more frequently 8 to 10 



