ascending, only slightly arcuate, having strong complete septa; blade of the upper- 

 most leaf (but not the bract!) much shorter than its sheath, sometimes reduced to 

 a mucro; bract much shorter than the inflorescence; inflorescence terminal, 

 sparingly branched. 2-5 (-10) cm. long, of 3 to 7 (to 15) heads which are 10-15 

 mm. thick and 40- to 100-flowered; bractlet solitary at the base of the short 

 pedicel; sepals 4.1-4.3 mm. long, 0.6-0.8 mm. broad; petals about 3.5 mm. long, 

 0.3-0.4 mm. broad; sepals and petals usually (reddish) -brown apically, stramine- 

 ous basally; stamens 3; capsule about 0.8 mm. thick, lance-subulate, trigonous, 

 golden-brown, not or only very slightly exserted. usually about equaling the 

 sepals, laterally dehiscent but the three valves coalescent apically into an inde- 

 hiscent beak. 



Infrequent to rare in deep sands and depressions very near the coast, s.e. Tex. 

 (Aransas and Galveston cos.), summer; Coastal States, (Md.? and) Va. to Tex. 



39. Juncus scirpoides Lam. Fig. 328. 



Perennial from whitish rhizomes 3-15 mm. long, the internodes of the rhizomes 

 1-2 mm. long; flowering culms 20-45 cm. long, erect, 1-1.5 mm. thick near the 

 middle; leaves few and mostly scattered along the flowering culm, not crowded 

 basally; blades with strong complete septa, terete, rarely very slightly laterally 

 compressed on drying, mostly about 1 mm. thick near the middle, ascending, only 

 slightly arcuate; bract usually shorter than to only slightly surpassing the inflores- 

 cence; inflorescence 1-5 (-11) cm. long, terminal, unbranched or very sparingly 

 branched; heads (solitary to) 2 to 5 (to 12), rounded or somewhat lobulate, 

 7-10 mm. thick, with 25 to 60 flowers; bractlet solitary at the base of the short 

 pedicel; sepals 2.7-4 mm. long, 0.5-0.8 mm. broad; petals 2-3 mm. long, 0.3- 

 0.5 mm. broad; sepals and petals green turning stramineous to stramineous-brown, 

 semirigid to subspinescent; stamens 3; capsule 0.5-0.8 mm. thick, exserted usually 

 even when immature, the tip long-subulate and its 3 valves fused into a perdurant 

 indehiscent beak; seeds not tailed. Incl. var. meridionalis Buch. 



In swampy places, in mud and water of ponds, streams and lakes, in Okla. 

 (LeFlore, Sequoyah and Ottawa cos.), frequent in e. Tex., infrequent in s.e. 

 Tex., uncommon to rare w. to n.-cen. Tex. and n. and coastal parts of Rio 

 Grande Plains and Edwards Plateau, also in Winkler Co. in the Trans-Pecos, 

 always in deep sandy soils, summer; e. U.S., n. to N.Y., Pa., Ind., Mich, and w. 

 to Okla. and Tex. 



Some robust Texas specimens seem to show intergradation to /. validus var. 

 fascinatus. 



40. Juncus poIycephaJus Michx. Fig. 329. 



Tufted perennials from subrhizomatous bases; culms 5-10 dm. long, erect, 

 basally 6-10 mm. thick, 2-4 mm. thick near the middle, greenish; leaves several 

 in a basal cluster and scattered along the stem; blades strongly laterally com- 

 pressed, arcuate, 4-7 mm. thick near the middle in the larger (dorsiventral) 

 dimension, greenish, with weak incomplete septa; inflorescence terminal, usually 

 widely branched, 7-25 cm. long, to 12 mm. thick; heads few to 20, of 40 to 80 

 flowers; bractlet solitary at the base of the short pedicel; sepals 3.5-4 mm. long, 

 0.7-0.8 mm. broad; petals 3-3.3 mm. long, about 0.5 mm. broad, marginally 

 hyaline, greenish-brown turning stramineous to dark-brown, semirigid at maturity 

 and subspinescent; stamens 3; capsule slightly exserted, tapering uniformly, de- 

 hiscing laterally but not at the short beaklike apex; seeds not tailed. 



In wet places, often in or on edge of water of streams. lakes and ponds, in- 

 frequent, Jasper and Tyler cos. in extreme s.e. Tex., summer; Coastal States, N. C. 

 to Tex. 



640 



I 



