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SCIRPUS LACUSTRIS. BULL-RUSH.
SCIRPUS lacustris’, culmo tereti, vaginis interioribus in folium breve desinentibus, cyma terminall
decomposita involucro-diphyllo suffulta. Schrad.
SCIRPUS lacustris. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 72. Huds.Angl.p. 19. Light/. Scot. p. 88. With. Bot. Arr.
ed. 4. ml. 2.p . 74. Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2. ml. 1. P . I. p. 23. Willd. Sp. P i. ml. j. ». 296.
Smith Fl. Brit. p. 52. Engl. Bot. t. 666. Decand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. ml. 3. p . 136. FI. Gall.
Syn. p . 146. Schrad. Fl. Germ. p . 133. Gaudin Agrost. Helv. ml. 2. p . 24. Host Gram.
Austr. m l. 3. p . 6 l . Pers. Syn. PI. m l. 1. p . 67. Aiton Hort. Kew. ed. 2. ml. 1. ». 1 3 1 .
Brown Prodr. Fl. Nov. Hotl. p . 223.
SCIRPUS caule tereti, panicula lateral! ramosa, loeustis ovatis. Hall. Helv. n. 1337.
SCIRPUS palustris altissimus. Bull-rush. Raii Syn. p . 428.
D m . S / . Poek. Dut. Mattenbies. Fr. Le Scirpe des étangs. Germ. Die Seebinse. Kalrnuc. Ma-
goi Segeson. Russ. Sitnik. Span. Junco de laguna. Swed. Sj'ôscif. Welsh. Tost-frwynen.
Class a n d Ord e r . TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[N atural Ord e r . CYPERACEÆ, Juss. Decand. Brown.]
Ge n . Ch a r . Calyx, glum* univalves, uniflor®, in spicam vel spiculas undique imbricat*: exteriorura una alte-
rave seepe sterili. Nux nuda, vel setis e receptaculo ortis obvallata.
Ge n . Ch a r . Calyx, glumes of one valve, one flower, imbricated on all sides into a spike or spikelets: one or
other of the exterior ones often sterile. N u t naked, or covered by bristles arising from the receptacle.
Radix crassa, carnosa, repens, vaginarum emarcida-
rum reliquiis vestita, fibrasque numerosas emit-
tens.
Culmi bi- tri-pedales ad octo-pedales et ultra, erecti,
glabri, e basi ad apicem exacte teretes, sensimque
decrescentes, sordide vifides, intus med ulla valde
spongiosa fared, superne nudij inferne vaginati.
Vaginæ quatuor vel quinque, pallide fuse*, non
raro atro-purpureæ, membranace*, vix striat*,
inferiores aphyllæ, superiores in folium lineari-
. subulatum, cahaliculatum, tri-quadri-unciale, ri-
gidum desinentes.
I nvolucrum universale diphyllum, foliolis valde in-
*qualibus, subulatis,uno, breviori, membranaceo,
fusco, altero bi- tri-unciam longo, canaliculate,
rigido, erecto, viridi ; partiale e foliolis vel brackets
ovatis, acutis, membranaceis, fuscis, ad basin
cujusque pedunculi sitis.
Cyma terminalis, decomposita, involucre longior. Pedunculi
valde inæquales, nunc bi- tri-unciales,
compressi, marginibus scabri.
Sp ic u l e plerumque congest*, ovat*, fusco-ferrugine*.
G lume late-ovat®, concavæ, membranace*, apice plerumque
bifid*, margine fimbriat*, nervo ultra
apicem in mucronem scabrum rigidum producto j
instruct*.
Stamina tria, gluma longiora. Anther* ilav*.
Ge rm en ovatum. Stigmata duö vel tria.
P e r ic a r p ium : N ux late obovata, pallide fusca,
nitida, apice mucronata; ad basin set* sex, nucis
longitudine,>rlineari-subulatæ, retrorsum hispid*.
Root thick, fleshy, creeping, clothed with the decayed
remains of the sheaths, and throwing out numerous
fibres.
Culms two or three to eight feet or more in height,
erect, smooth, from thé base to the apex exactly
round, gradually decreasing in size, dull green,
within filled with a very spongy pith; above
naked, below sheathed. Sheaths four or five,
. pale brown, not unfrequently blackish purple,
membranaceous, scarcely striated, the lower ones
leafless, the upper ones ending in a linear-subulate,
channelled, rigid leaf, three or four inches
in length.
General I nvolucrum of two leaves, the leaflets very
unequal, subulate, one of them, the shorter, membranaceous,
brown, the other two or three inches
long, channelled, rigid, erect, green; the partial
one composed o f ovate, acute, membranaceous,
brown leaflets or bracteas situated at the base of
each peduncle.
Cyme terminal, very compound, longer than the involucrum.
Peduncles very unequal, sometimes
two o r three inches long, compressed, rough at
. the margin.
Spik e l e t s generally clustered, ovate, brownish ferru<n-
Glumes broadly ovate, concave, membranaceous, Generally
bifid at the extremity, the margin fringed,
furnished with a nerve which runs out beyond
the apex into a rough rigid mucro.
Stamens three, longer than the glume. Anthers yellow.
Ge rm en ovate. Stigmas two or three.
P e r ic a r p : a broadly obovate Nut, pale brown, shining,
mucronate a t the extremity; at the base are
six bristles, the length of the nut, linear-subulate,
with réflexed bristles.
Fig. i. Scale of the spiliefet, exterior surface. Fig. 2. Inner view of a scale, with the anther, germen, and set®
Fig. 3. Pec 'arp with its set*—all magnified.
There is a degree of elasticity and pliability about the stems or culms of this plant that renders them of great
utility tor a number of purposes m domestic oeconomy. In our country, mats and bottoms of chairs are made of
them ; and they are employed to a great extent in filling up the seams between the staves o f casks and barrels
In Sweden, Lmn*us tells us that houses are thatched with them, packsaddles stuffed, and in times of scarcity that
they are given, in lieu of better food, to cattle. The Tartars, also, according to Gmelin, make a kind o f mattress
ot these rushes, to lie upon during the oppressive heats of summer.
The Bull-rush occurs frequently enough aboutthe margin of lakes, rivers and ponds, and in ditches. It seems
to be an inhabitant of various and widely distant parts of the world, being found in Iceland, where, unlike most
vegetables, it does not betoken by a stunted growth the uncongeniality of the climate, but attains a considerable
height; in Lapland, in North America, and, according to Mr. Brown, even in New Holland.
As a species, it is readily known from every other by its great size, the roundness of the stem from the base to
the summit, and its large cyme, or panicle of spikelets, which rises above the involucres.
I am, at present, unacquainted with the Scirpus glaucus of English Botany*, otherwise than by the figure and
description them given. From them, indeed, it does not appeal- to be very clearly distinguished from our present
plant. It differs, says the author’, “ m being much smaller, (not above two feet in height,) o f a <daucous hue
with a less compound panicle, which does not rise above the upper bracteaf. The spikelets, moreover are
crowded, ovate, darker in colour, the glumes broader, and, as Dr. Stokes well observes in Withering, dotted with
purple on their lower part.” This is the Scirpus lacustris (3. of the Fl. Brit, and probably the S. lacustris k
medtus of Schrader, of which he says, “ culmi humiliores et spicul* brevius pedunculat* but such individuals
are found frequently intermixed with the more common kinds. The latter author has a third variety which he
describes as o f a.glaucous colour with the spikelets few and sessile.
Gencram, ™ l .^ . ? * 2 .Wh° h” P"b1“ “ * * '“ “ *■ * of S“ eS*‘ “ Africa, allied lo & mmlimit, la hi, n k M i o m ,
f I t is represented .rather higher, in the figure, vid. Engl.Bol. t. 2821.
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