( 436 .) 
ELEO'CHARIS* *. 
Linnean Class and Order. TitiA'NDRiAf, Monogy'nia. 
Natural Order.. Cypera'cea;, Juss . — Lindl. Syn. p.278.; 
Introd. to Nat. Syst. of Bot. p. 304. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 392. — 
Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 541. — Mack. FI. Hibern. p. 318. — Hook. Brit. 
FI. (4th ed.) p. 427. — Cyperoideas, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 26. — Sm. Gr. 
of Bot. p. 68. — Cyperales ; sect. Cyperin,® ; type, Scirpace.® ; 
Burn. Outl. of Bot. v. i. pp. 354 & 357. — Calamarg®, Linn. 
Gen. Char. Spike terminal, solitary, naked ; of numerous 
flowers, all perfect. Glumes (see fig. 1.) imbricated in every di- 
rection, expanded, uniform. Corolla none. Filaments (see fig. 1.) 
3, hair-like. Anthers (see fig. 1.) strap-shaped. Germen (see 
fig. 2.) compressed. Style (see figs. 2 & 3.) dilated, or bulbous, 
at the base, and united by a suddenly contracted joint, with the 
germen. Stigmas 2 or 3. Fruit (see fig. 4.) compressed, bluntly 
3-cornered, crowned with the permanent bulbous base of the style. 
Bristles ( perianth of Brown J (see fig. 1 to 4.) from 2 to 10, finely 
toothed, beneath the germen, rarely wanting. 
The simple, solitary, naked, many-flowered spike; the 1-valved 
glumes, imbricated on all sides ; the perianth of from 2 to 10 rough 
bristles ; and the lenticular, or bluntly 3-cornered seed, crowned 
with the hardened, dilated base of the style ; will distinguish this 
from other genera, with inferior, glumaceous flowers, in the same 
class and order. 
Six species British. 
ELEO'CHARIS PALU'STRIS. Marsh Spike-rush. Creeping 
Spike-rush. Marsh Club-rush. 
Spec. Char. Root creeping. Stem rounded. Stigmas two. 
Fruit roundish-obovate, most convex on one side, shorter than the 
four bristles. Outer glume smaller than the rest. 
Sm. Engl. FI. v. i. p. 63. — With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 105. — Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. 
p. 77. — Hook. FI. Scot. p. 23. — Macr. Man. Brit. Bot. p. 248. — Johnst. FI. Berw. 
v. i. p. 16. — Winch’s FI. of Northumherl. and Durh. p. 4. — Walker’s FI. of Oxf. p. 
14. — Bab. FI. Bath. p. 53. ; Prim. FI. Sam. p. 101. — Dick. FI. Abred. p. 21. — Irv. 
Bond. FI. p. 88. — Luxf. Reig. FI. p. 5. — Cow. FI. Guide, p. 29. — Baines’ FI. of 
Yorksh. p. 111. — Leight. FI. of Shropsh. p. 33. — Mack. FI. Hibern. p. 320. — 
Heliocharis palustris, Lindl. Syn. p. 280. — Scirpus palustris, Linn. Sp. PI. p. 
70.— Engl. Bot. t. 131.— Huds. FI. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 17.— Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. pt. i. 
p. 291. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. i. p. 48. — Leers’ FI. Herbor. p. 10. t. 1. f. 3. — Lightf. FI. 
Scot. v. i. p. 87. — Itel. Rudb. p. 27. f. 2’ — Sibth. FI. Oxon. p. 22. — Abbot’s FI. 
Bedf. p. 10. — Tliomps. PI. of Berw. p. 7. — Davies’ Welsh Bot. p. 6. — Purt. Midi. 
FI. v. i. p. 63. — Relh. FI. Cant. (3rded.) p. 21. — Hook. FI. Scot. p. 18. — Grev. FI. 
Edin. p. 10. — FI. Devon, pp. 7 & 115. — Murr. Northern FI. p. 31. — Gull. Catal. of 
PI. of Banbury, p. 2. — Mack. Catal. of PI. of Irel. p. 11. — Scirpus Equiseti capi- 
tulo majori, Ray’s Syn. p. 429. — Scheuchz. Agr. p. 360. — Juncus equiseti 
capitulis, Bauh. Tlieatr. p. 186. — Juncus minor capitulis equiseti, Johnson’s 
Gerarde, p. 35. n. 5. figured at p. 1631, Appendix. — Juncus aquaticus capitulis 
Equiseti, Park. Theatr. Bol. p. 1196, with a figure. 
Fig. 1. A single Flower. — Fig. 2. Germen, Style, and Stigmas, and hypogynous 
Bristles. — Fig. 3. Same farther matured. — Fig. 5. Fruit, crowned with the bulbous 
base of the style, and accompanied by the bristles at the base . — All more or less 
magnified. 
* From elos, Gr. a marsh ; and chairo, Gr. to delight ; from its place of growth, 
t See folio 56, note -f\ 
