File:The British grasses and sedges (Pl. 3) (8514967159).jpg

BRITISH GRASSES AND SEDGES. 17

brislles 2-3; stew tufted, round, exceedingly slender. A humble plant, 3-4 inches high, frequent among other marsh plants on the sides of lakes and in damp heathy places. It approaches in habit Isolepis Savii and I. setacea, from which, however, it may be at once distinguished by the absence of bracts. it flowers from June to August. (Pl. 230, I S.)

7. Isolepis (Mud-rush).

1. I. fluitans (Floating Mud-rush).-Spikelet solitary, terminal ; stigmas 2; stem floating, flattened, branched. A tufted grass-like aquatic, with numerous zig-zag stems 3-6 inches long, short sheathing leaves, and small ovate green spikelets, flowering from June to August. Common in lakes and ponds. (Pl. 240, f. I.)

2. I. setacae: (Bristle-stalked (Mud-rush).-Spikelets I or 2, with an erect bract at the base, which greatly overtops the spikes ; stigmas 3; fruit longitudinally ribbed and transversely striated. A humble plant, 3-6 inches high, forming dense tufts of very slender stems, which are leafy at the base. Common in wet gravelly places, and flowering in July and August. (Pb. 240, 9. 2.)

3. I. Savii (Savi's Mud-rush).-Spikelets 1-3, with I or 2 spreading bracts, of which the longer slightly overtop., the spikes; stigmas; fruit dotted, not furrowed. Closely resembling the last, from which, however, it may well be distinguished by the above character, and by its brighter green hue. It is common in the west of England, where it inhabits bogs, and is found also M Scotland and Ireland, gene-rally near the sea. Of late years it has been commonly exposed for sale in Covent Garden under the name of Isidore. Planted in a pot, and set to stand in a saucer of water, it soon fills the pot with innumerable ever-green bristling stems, which spread in all directions, and present a very pleasing appearance. The roots, meanwhile, penetrate into the saucer, which they line with a tangled mass of fibres. In its wild state it flowers in July and August. (Pl. 240, 0. 3.)

4. I. Holoschoenus (Round cluster-headed Mud-rush). —Spikelets collected into globular heads. A distinct and very handsome rush-like plant, with round robust stems, 3-4 feet high, from about six or eight inches below the summit of which proceeds a panicle of six to twenty globular heads, of the site of small marbles, accompanied by a long spreading or deflexed bract. Said to grow on the sandy coast of Somerset and Devon, though no specific locality appeals to be named but Braunton Burrows, an extensive tract of sand on the north coast of Devon. Here it undoubtedly grows, but can scarcely be discovered without some labour and difficulty, owing to the tangled jungle of grass and rushes, which must be penetrated and searched by the botanist. It flowers in August and September. (Pl. 240, 1. 4.)

8. SCIRPUS (Club-rush and Bull-rush).