acute and slightly fringed. Filaments of the stamens persistent.
Anthers terminating in a long subulate point which
is minutely ciliated at its margins. Hypogynous setae 2
or 3, much shorter than the fruit, fringed with recurved
hairs. Fruit roundish obovate, compressed, flat on one
side and convex on the other, with a short point, smooth,
yellowish when ripe. Style simple, stigmas two.
This plant appears to have been first noticed in Jersey
by Sherard, as recorded in the third edition of Ray’s Synopsis
; but I am not aware that it has been gathered by any
botanist since that time, until the recent visit of my friend
Mr. Woods to that island. He gathered it in July 1836,
on the banks of St. Ouen’s Pond, and referred it correctly
to the S. tenuifolius of De Candolle. Our specimens wei'e
obtained from the same place, on the 25th of July 1837. It
grows in a very wet sandy soil which is often flooded, and
spreads largely, and in all directions, its creeping roots
forming a strong net-work at a short distance below the
surface.
Our plant is nearly allied to S. triqueter, but may be
distinguished by the acute lobes of the glumes and the subulate
points of the anthers, besides numerous other differences.—
C. C. B.