Scirpus
(the old Latin name used by Pliny, &c., for a Rush). Club Grass or Rush. Including Holo-schaenus and Isolepis. TRIBE Scirpeae of ORD. Cyperaceae. An extensive genus (about 300 species have been quoted) of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, annual or perennial, marsh or water plants, broadly dispersed. Flowers all hermaphrodite, or the upper ones rarely male, several or many to a spikelet; stamens three or fewer; inflorescence variable. Leaves few at the base of the stem, sometimes very long, sometimes small and grass-like, or all reduced to sheaths. Nine species are found in Britain, of which the best-known is S. lacustris. This grows freely in any boggy soil; it may be increased by seeds, by suckers, or by divisions. The other species may be similarly treated.
S. Holoschoenus variegatus (Holoschoenus, variegated). fl., spikelets minute, crowded into heads from 1/4in. to 1/2in. in diameter; stigmas three. Summer. Stems erect, terete, with alternate zones of whitish and green. A very ornamental, hardy plant. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. The green-stemmed type has a wide distribution, and is taller and more vigorous; it occurs on sandy sea-coasts in Europe (North Devon), North Africa, and Siberia.
S. lacustris (stream-loving). Bast; Bullrush. fl., glumes glabrous, mucronate or awned, obtusely two-lobed; spikelets red-brown, one to six, 1/4in. to 1/2in. long, sessile; cymes terminal, branched; branches few, 1/2in. to 3in. long. July and August. l. wanting, or short, flat, and keeled in still water, or long and strap-shaped in streams. Stems terete or nearly so, 1ft. to 8ft. high. Arctic Europe (Britain), &c. This plant is extensively used in making chair-bottoms, mats, &c., in most parts of Europe.
S. riparius (riverside-loving). fl., spikes numerous and clustered, in a one-sided, compound, umbel-like panicle, the principal rays of which mostly surpass the involucral leaf; involucellate bracts small, scale-like, and rusty-scarious; scales of the spike rusty-or chestnut-brown, scarious, with a salient midrib extended into a mucronate point. Culm terete, very tall and stout, from a deep running rootstock, naked; the sheaths at the base bearing a short and imperfect leaf, or none. Extra-tropical regions. A favourite plant for conservatory decoration. SYN. Isolepis gracilis (of gardens). S. setaceus (bristly). fl., spikelets one to three, lateral, 1/6in. to 1/4in. long, ovoid; glumes green and brown, ovate, obtuse. July and August. l. one or two, narrow, channelled, short and bristly. Stems filiform, 3in. to 6in. long, tufted, rigid. Europe (Britain). This is similar to S riparius in appearance. (Sy. En. B. 1594.) SYN. Isolepis setacea.
S. Tabernaemontani zebrina (Tabernaemontana-like, striped) Banded Rush. l. erect, terete, transversely banded with white and green, generally in nearly equal zones of about half an inch deep. The appearance suggested by a group of the stems is that of a cluster of porcupine quilis. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Japan, about 1881. SYN. Juncus zebrinus (I. H. n. s., 393). The green-stemmed type is found in all temperate climates.