SCIRPUS SETACEUS. SETACEOUS CLUB-RUSH.
SCIRPUS setaceus ; culmo setaceo tereti compresso, vaginis foliiferis, spiculis terminalibus geminatis,
involucro monophyllo, erecto, culmo multo .breviore, nuce costata, setis nullis.
SCIRPUS setaceus. Linn, Sp. PI. p. 73. Huds. Angl. p. 20. Lig h tf. Scot. p . 88. With. Bot.
A r r . ed. 4. vol. 2>.p. 76. Oed. FI. Dan. t. 311. Hqffm. Germ. ed. 2. vol. 1. P . I . p. 24.
Willd. Sp. P I. vol. 1. p. 298. Smith FI. B r it. p. 34. Engl. Bot. 1 .1693. Decand. FI.
Fr. ed. 3. vol. 2. p. 139. FI. G all. Syn. p. 146. Host Gram. A ustr. vol. 3. t. 65. Schrad.
Fl. Germ. vol. 1. p. 137. Gaudin Agrost. Helv. vol. 2. p . 28. Pers. Syn. PI. vol. 1. p. 67.
Aiton Hort. Kew. ed. 2. vol. 1. p. 132.
SCIRPUS foliaceus humilis. The least Rush of all. R aii Syn.p. 430.
ISO L E P IS setaceus. Brown Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. p. 224.
MARISCUS setaceus, capitulls lateralibus perpaucis. Hall. Helv'.n. 1345.
Class a n d Order. T R IA N D R IA MON O G Y N IA .
[N atural Order. CYPERACEiE, Decand. Brown. CY PA RO ID E jE, J uss.]
Gen . Char. Calyx, glum® univalves, unifloras, in spicam vel spiculas undique imbricat®, exteriorum una alte-
rave seepe sterili. N u x nuda, vel setis e receptaculo ortis obvallata.
Ge n . Char. 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 surrounded by bristles which arise from the receptacle.
Radix parva, fibrosa, casspitosa, annua.
CuLMl erecti, simplices, numerosi, casspitosi, setacei,
tenues sed rigidiusculi, tereti-compressi, glabri,
duas ad sex uncias longi, nudi, interne solummodo
vaginis singulis vel duabus, membranaceis, stria-
tis, fuscis, foliiferiis vestiti.
Folia culmo duplo breviora, flexuosa, erecto-appressa,
dorso convexa, facie interiore canaliculata, apice
obtusiuscula.
In VOLUCRUM monophyllum, duas ad quatuor lineas lon-
gum, erectum, late subulatum, compressum, ca-
naliculatum, ad basin late dilatatum, membrana-
ceum, et ad spiculas recipiendas concavum.
SPICULE plerumque duas, terminales, sed ob involucrum
erectum, quasi culmi prolongationem, laterales
videantur, exigu®, late ovatas, sessiles, multifloras.
Glume late ovatas, concavas, acutiusculas, purpureo-
fuscas, margine scarios®, pallid®, dorso nervo
latiusculo viridi.
Stamina in meis speciminibus duo.
An th er e oblong®, flav®.
Ovarium late ovatum, viride, stigmatibus tribus. Set®
null®.
Pericarpium: N ux minutissima, obovato-rotundata,
obtusa, triquetra: Testa Crustacea, fusca, nitida,
supra styli basi persistente terminata, longitudi-
naliter sulcata, intra sulcos lineis horizontalibus
numerosis pulcherrime impressa.
Semen test® conforme, basi affixum, acuminatum, pal-
lide flavo-fuscum, l®ve.
, fibrous, tufted, annual.
Culms erect, simple, numerous, tufted, setaceous, slender
yet somewhat rigid, roundish but slightly
compressed, smooth, from two to six inches long,
naked, below only clothed with one or two membranaceous,
striated, brown, leaf-bearing sheaths.
Leaves half the length of the culms, flexuose, erect and
appressed, convex on the back, channelled on the
interior surface, rather obtuse at the apex.
Involucrum of one leaf, from two to four lines in
length, erect, widely subulate, compressed, channelled,
widely dilated at the base, membranaceous,
for the reception of the spikelets, concave.
Spikelets mostly- two in number, terminal, but owing
to the erect involucrum, resembling a prolongation
of the stem, appear lateral, small, broadly
ovate, sessile, many-flowered.
Glumes widely ovate, concave, somewhat acute, purplish
brown, margin scariose, pale, having on the
back a broadish green nerve.
Stamens upon my specimens two in number.
Anthers oblong, yellow.
Ovary broadly ovate, green, with three stigmas. Bristles
none.
Per ic a r p: Nut extremely minute, between obovate
and round, obtuse, triquetrous: Shell crustaceous,
brown, shining, terminated above by the persistent
base of the style, longitudinally furrowed,
beautifully marked between the furrows with numerous
horizontal lines.
Seed of the same shape as the shell, fixed by its base,
acuminated, of a pale yellow brown, smooth.
Albumen between fleshy and farinaceous.
Embryo at the base o f the albumen, erect.
Albumen carnoso-farinaceum.
Embryo basi albuminis, erectus.
Fig. 1. Portion of a culm with its spikelets and involucrum. Fig. 2. Spikelet. Fig. 3. Exterior view of a glume.
Fig. 4. Interior view of ditto with its anthers and ovary. *Fig. 5. Nuts. (nat. size). Fig. 6. Single nut.
Fig. 7. Ditto with its seed cut open vertically to show the situation of the embryo. Fig. 8. Seed removed entire
from the nut. Fig. 9. Portion of a leaf, upper surface'—all hut Fig. 5 .more or less magnified.
There is no British Scirpus with which this can be confounded; nor any European one either, that I am aware
of, except the Scirpus supinus, of which figures are given both in Schrader’s Floj'a Germanica(tab. 1. Jig. l.)an d
in Host’s Gramina Austriaca. This species differs from our plant scarcely in any thing but the much more lengthened
involucrum, and the transverse undulation o f the seed; and having been found in several places in Germany
and Switzerland, it is more than probable that it may have been overlooked in this country as a variety of
S._ setaceus.
The S. setaceus is common in wet places, and particularly where the soil is sandy or gravelly, flowering from
June to August.
On account of the absence of the set® about the germen, Mr. Brown has removed this and our British Scirpus
fluitans into his genus Isolepis.