C YPERA CEAE. 1 83 



Fuirena squarr6sa hispida (Ell.) Chapm. Sheaths and leaves hirsute ; sepals ovate, 

 cordate at the base or abruptly narrowed into the stalk, awnless or very short-awned at 

 the apex ; bristles usually shorter than or equalling the achene ; plant usually taller. N. 

 Y. to Fla., Ala. and Tex. 



2. Fuirena simplex Vahl. WESTERN FUIRENA. (I. F. f. 645.) Similar to 

 the preceding species; culms 1-5 dm. tall, glabrous. Leaves flat, glabrous or 

 ciliate; scales tipped with a spreading or reflexed awn; sepals ovate -oblong, obtuse 

 and usually notched at the apex, obtuse, truncate or subcordate at the base; awned 

 on the back from below the apex, the awn smooth or downwardly barbed; bristles 

 retrorsely hispid, equalling or exceeding the sessile or short-stalked achene. In 

 moist soil, Neb. to Tex. and Mex. June-Sept. 



12. HEMICARPHA Nees & Arn. 



Low tufted mostly annual sedges, with erect or spreading, almost filiform culms 

 and leaves, and terete small terminal capitate or solitary spikelets subtended by a 

 i-3-leaved involucre. Scales spirally imbricated, deciduous, all subtending perfect 

 flowers. Perianth of a single hyaline sepal (bract ?) between the flower and the 

 rachis of the spikelet; bristles none. Stamens 1-3. Style 2-cleft, deciduous, not 

 swollen at the base. Achene oblong, turgid or lenticular. [Greek, in allusion to 

 the single sepal.] About 3 species, natives of temperate and tropical regions. 

 Besides the following, another occurs in the southwestern U. S. 



I. Hemicarpha micrantha (Vahl) Britton. HEMICARPHA. (I. F. f. 646.) 

 Annual; glabrous; culms compressed, grooved, 2-10 cm. long, mostly longer than 

 the setaceous smooth leaves. Spikelets ovoid, many-flowered, obtuse, about 2 mm. 

 long; involucral leaves usually much exceeding the spikelets; scales brown, 

 obovate, with a short blunt spreading or recurved tip; stamen i; achene obovate- 

 oblong, obtuse, mucronulate, little compressed, Hght brown. In moist, sandy soil, 

 R. I. to Penn., Iowa and Neb., Fla., Tex. and Mex. July-Sept. 



Hemicarpha micrlntha aristulata Coville. Scales pale, cuneate-obovate, tapering 

 into squarrose awns about their own length. Kans. to Tex. 



13. LIPOCARPHA R. Br. 



Low annual sedges, with slender tufted culms leafy at the base, and terete 

 many-flowered spikelets in a terminal head, subtended by a i-several-leaved in- 

 volucre. Scales firm, spirally imbricated, all fertile or several of the lower ones 

 empty, at length deciduous. Flowers perfect. Perianth of two small sepals 

 (bracts?) one on each side of the flower; bristles none. Stamens 1-2. Style 

 2-3-cleft, deciduous, its base not swollen. Achene plano-convex or 3-angled. 

 (Greek, alluding to the thick sepals in some species.) About 7 species, widely dis- 

 tributed in warm and tropical regions. 



I. Lipocarpha maculata (Michx.) Torr. AMERICAN LIPOCARPHA. (I. F. f. 

 647.) Glabrous ; culms grooved, compressed, smooth, longer than the narrowly 

 linear somewhat channeled leaves, 7-25 cm. tall. Leaves of the involucre 2-4; 

 spikelets ovoid-oblong, obtuse, 5-6 mm. long, 2 mm. in diameter, in a terminal 

 capitate cluster; scales rhombic or lanceolate, acute, curved, the sides nearly white, 

 or flecked with reddish-brown spots; exterior sepal convolute around the achene, 

 nerved, hyaline; stamen i; achene oblong, yellowish, contracted at the base. In 

 wet or moist soil, E. Va. to Fla. Also near Philadelphia, where it is probably 

 adventive. July-Sept. 



14. RYNCHOSPORA Vahl. 



Leafy sedges, mostly perennial by rootstocks, with erect 3-angled or terete 

 culms, narrow flat or involute leaves, and ovoid oblong or fusiform, variously clus- 

 tered spikelets. Scales thin, I -nerved, imbricated all around, usually mucronate 

 by the excurrent midvein, the lower empty. Upper flowers imperfect, the lower 

 perfect. Perianth of 1-20 (mostly 6) upwardly or downwardly barbed or scabrous 

 bristles, wanting in some species (no. 2). Stamens commonly 3. Style 2-cleft, 

 2-toothed or rarely entire. Achene lenticular or swollen, not 3-angled, smooth or 

 transversely wrinkled, capped by the persistent base of the style (tubercle), or in 



