Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges,& Ferns of Great Britain and Their Allies, the Club Mosses, Horsetails, Etc, Vol. 4 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges,& Ferns of Great Britain and Their Allies, the Club Mosses, Horsetails, Etc, Vol. 4 Perianth 6-parted, usually chaffy, but sometimes coloured, as in Asphodel (Narthecium); stamens 6, inserted at the bases of the segments, or sometimes 3, inserted opposite the outer segments; anthers opening inwards; ovary superior; style solitary; stigmas 3 or (in Asphodel) 1; capsule 3-valved, usually many-seeded. This is a tribe of plants growing on moist lands, having cylindrical or grassy leaves, and, except in Asphodel, brown flowers. The true rushes (Juncus) are social plants, often covering large moist districts; many of them known in the coldest parts of the world, and a few in the tropics. The stems of some are used for making mats and the wicks of candles. With few exceptions, the species are perennials. The popular notion of the Rush tribe connects its members with the Grasses through the Sedges. A certain superficial resemblance may justify this, but the botanical tyro who uses the pocket-lens and pulls the inflorescence carefully to pieces will soon be undeceived on that point. The flower of the Wood Rush, though minute, has all its parts corresponding closely with those of the lilies, but in the Sedges and Grasses the perianth has completely disappeared, and the stamens and pistils are enclosed in chaffy scales, called glumes. There are three British genera. 1. Rush (Júncus). - Perianth chaffy; filaments smooth; stigmas 3; capsule 3-celled, 3-valved; seeds numerous, minute, roughish; leaves mostly round, rarely flat; mostly perennials. Name from jungo, to join - the stems having been used as cordage. 2. Wood Rush (Luzula). - Perianth chaffy; filaments smooth; stigmas 3; capsule 1-celled, 3-seeded; all perennials. Name supposed to be from the Italian luciola, a glow-worm, because the heads of flowers sparkle when wet with dew-drops. 3. Bog Asphodel (Narthécium). - Perianth of 6 coloured sepals and petals; stamens woolly; stigma 1; capsule 3-celled; seeds numerous. Name from the Greek narthekion, a rod, apparently from the long straight raceme of flowers in some of the species. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.