BULRUSH, a name given in England to Typha latifolia, the reed-mace or club-rush, a plant growing in lakes, by edges of rivers and similar localities, with a creeping underground stem, narrow, nearly flat leaves, 3 to 6f t. long, arranged in opposite rows, and a tall stem ending in a cylindrical spike, half to one foot long, of closely packed male (above) and female (below) flowers. The familiar brown spike is a dense mass of minute one seeded fruits, each on a long hair-like stalk and covered with long downy hairs, which render the fruits very light and readily carried by the wind. The name bulrush is more correctly applied to Scirpus lacustris, a member of a different family (Cyperaceae), a common plant in wet places, with tall spongy, usually leafless stems, bearing a tuft of many-flowered spikelets. The stems are used for matting, etc. In the United States the name bulrush is commonly given to species of Scripus, especially S. validus, while species of Typha are usually called cat-tail. The bulrush of Scrip ture, associated with the hiding of Moses, was Cyperus Papyrus, which was abundant in the Nile.