ERIO CA ULA CEAE. 2$J 



I. ERIOCAULON L. 



Acaulescent or very short stemmed herbs, the scapes erect, or when immersed 

 delicate, angular with a long sheathing bract at the base. Leaves mostly short, 

 spreading, acuminate, parallel-nerved. Head of flowers woolly, white, lead- 

 colored or nearly black. Staminate flowers: outer perianth-segments 2 or 3, dis- 

 tinct or sometimes connate, the inner united below into a tube, alternate with the 

 outer ones, each with a minute spot or gland near its middle or apex ; stamens 

 mostly 4-6, one opposite each perianth-segment, the filaments of those opposite the 

 inner segments the longer; pistil small, rudimentary or none. Pistillate flowers: 

 outer perianth-segments as in the staminate flowers, the inner indistinct, narrow; 

 stamens wanting; ovary sessile or stalked; style columnar or filiform, stigmas 2 or 

 3, filiform. Fruit a thin-walled capsule. Seeds oval, covered with minute pro- 

 cesses. [Greek, in allusion to the wool at the base of the scape in some species.] 

 About no species, of very wide geographic distribution in tropical and warm 

 regions. Besides the following, 3 others occur in the southern U. S. and 3 in 

 Mexico. 



Leaf-blades as long as the sheaths, coarsely 3-8-fenestrate-nerved ; scapes y-angled ; 



heads 4-6 mm. in diameter. i. E. septangulare. 



Leaf -blades shorter than the sheaths, finely 6-2o-fenestrate-nerved ; scapes io-i2-angled; 



heads 6-12 mm. in diameter. 2. E. compressum. 



Leaf -blades much longer than the sheaths, finely io-5o-nerved ; scapes io-i4-angled ; 



heads 8-16 mm. in diameter. 3. E. decangulare. 



1. Eriocaulon septangulare With. SEVEN-ANGLED PIPEWORT. (I. F. f. 

 899.) Stem a mere crown. Leaf-blades pellucid, 3-8-fenestrate-nerved, 1-8 cm. 

 long; scapes weak, twisted, about 7-angled, smooth, 2-20 cm. tall, or when sub- 

 mersed sometimes 1-3.5 m - l n g; involucral bracts glabrous, or the innermost 

 bearded at the apex, oblong, usually shorter than the flowers; marginal flowers 

 usually staminate; scales of the receptacle spatulate or obovate, abruptly pointed, 

 brown above; staminate flowers about 2.5 mm. high; pistillate flowers scarcely 

 more than half as large; perianth-segments of both kinds of flowers white-bearded. 

 In still water or on shores, Newf. to Ont., Minn., Fla. and Tex. Also in western 

 Europe. July-Oct. 



2. Eriocaulon compressum Lam. FLATTENED PIPEWORT. (I. F. f. 900.) 

 Leaf-blades 6-2O-fenestrate-nerved, tapering to a long sharp tip, rigid, or when 

 submerged thin and pellucid. Stem a mere crown ; scapes 1.5-9 dm. tall ; smooth, 

 flattened when dry, io-12-angled ; involucral bracts rounded, obtuse, scarious, 

 shining, smooth, imbricated in 3 or 4 series ; heads frequently dioecious ; recep- 

 tacle glabrous ; flowers 3-4 mm. high, otherwise similar to those of the preceding. 

 In still shallow water, S. N. J. to Fla. and Tex. Also in Cuba. At flowering 

 time the styles and stigmas are much exserted, standing above the heads like pro- 

 jecting threads. May-Oct. 



3. Eriocaulon decangulare L. TEN-ANGLED PIPEWORT. (I. F. f. 901.) 

 Stems short and thick, 2-5 cm. long. Leaf-blades finely many-nerved, tapering to 

 a blunt tip, 1.5-5 dm. l n g> 4-16 mm. wide ; scapes stout, rigid, glabrous, 

 io-i4-angled, 0.3-1 m. tall; heads 8-16 mm. in diameter; involucral bracts 

 ovate, often eroded, denticulate at the apex and pubescent below, imbricated in 

 4 or 5 series ; receptacle pubescent with many-celled hairs ; flowers 4 mm. high, 

 densely woolly at the base ; scales longer than the flowers, acute, white-bearded ; 

 as are the spatulate perianth-segments. In swamps, S. N. J. and Perm, to Fla. 

 and Tex. Also in Cuba. June-Oct. 



2. DUPATYA Veil. 



Perennial or rarely annual herbs, our species with the habit of Eriocaulon. 

 Stems very short. Leaves awl-shaped, tufted. Scapes slender, several-angled, 

 erect, twisted in growth, sheathed at the base by a long acute bract. Flowers 

 androgynous, in globular or hemispheric heads, each in the axil of a scale, or the 

 scales sometimes obsolete. Involucral bracts imbricated in 3 or 4 series. 

 Perianth of 2 series, each of 2 or 3 segments m the staminate flowers, the outer 

 segments distinct, the inner connate : stamens 2 or 3, inserted on the inner perianth 

 and opposite its lobes. Pistillate flowers with the outer segments distinct, 



