127 
Monocotyledons with Petaloid Flowers . 
Natural Order 
J UNCACEaE. Tab. 98. 
Diagnosis. —Herbs with radical or cauline leaves. Flowers small, usually 
perfect. Perianth scarious, free, of 6 distinct persistent segments. Stamens 
•6, hypogynous or epiphyllous. Ovary superior, 3-celled, or 1-celled with 3 
parietal placentas. Seeds albuminous, with a minute embryo. 
Distribution. —A small Natural Order, most numerous in Temperate, Arctic, and Alpine locali¬ 
ties, usually affecting moist situations. 
Number of British Genera, 2; Species, 25. 
LEAVES flat, grass-Jike, often thinly pilose in Woodrush ( Luzula ); reduced to sheathing scales at the base of 
the fertile or barren scapes as in Common Soft Rush ( Juncus communis ); cylindrical, hollow, with cross-partitions 
in Jointed Rush (J. articulatus). 
INFLORESCENCE cymose, often fascicled or densely panicled ; in Soft Rush with the outer bract continued 
beyond the panicle as an apparently direct prolongation of the scape. 
CAPSULE i- celled, with 1 seed to each placenta in Woodrush; usually 3-celled, many-seeded in Rush (Juncus). 
USES, &c.—Of the spongy, cellular pith of Soft Rush the wicks of rushlights used to be made. This tissue, 
under the microscope, well exhibits a stellate form of cell with wide intercellular spaces. 
BROMELIACE^E.—An exotic Natural Order, confined to the New World, chiefly tropical or subtropical. 
Allied to the petaloid Orders of Monocotyledons with an inferior ovary, characterised by a perianth, usually adherent* 
