Bulrush

Bulrush, properly the English name of Scirpus lacustris, one of the sedges which is used throughout Europe for rush-bottomed chairs and mats. The name is now generally transferred to the reed-mace or cat's-tail (Typha latifolia and T. angustifolia), very different plants, the brown velvety truncheon-like heads of female flowers of which, surmounted by the more slender and perishable spike of male ones, render them favourite decorations in London drawing-rooms.