SEDGE FAMILY 



261 



15. Cyperus regiomontanus Dritton. 

 Monterey Cyperus. Fig. 622. 



Cxperus regiomontanus Britton, Rose, Contr. U. S. Xat. Herb. 



1: 362. 1S9S. 

 Mariscus hacnkei Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 181. 1828, not Cyfe- 



rus haenkcanus Kunth. 



Perennial, with slightly thickened culm-bases; culms 

 smooth. 4 dm. tall or less. Leaves 1.5-3 mm. wide, the 

 basal ones as long as the culm or shorter, those of the 

 involucre spreading or refle.xed, 1.5 dm. long or less; 

 spikes 1-4, sessile or very short-stalked, cylindric, 

 1-2 cm. long, 6-7 mm. thick, obtuse; spikelets linear- 

 oblong, brown, about 3 mm. long, usually with but 1 

 achene ; fertile scale striate ; achene linear, 2 mm. long, 

 0.5 mm. wide. 



Mexico; Costa Rica. Mr. C. B. Clarke connected the Mexi- 

 can and Central American plant with Presl's Mariscus haenkei, 

 of which he had an authentic co-type at Kew in 1893. Type 

 locality: Monterey, California (according to Presl). The plant 

 has not since been collected in California and the type locality 

 may be erroneous. It is here illustrated from Dr. E. Palmer's 

 No. 1080 from Colima, Mexico. 



16. Cyperus ferax L. C. Rich. 

 Coarse Cyperus. 



Fig. 623. 



Cyperus ferax L. C. Rich. Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. 



Paris 1: 106. 1792. 

 Cyperus longispicatus Norton, Trans. St. Louis 



Acad. 12: i7. 1902. 



Annual, with smooth-margined leaves, 

 those of the involucre sometimes but little 

 exceeding the inflorescence. Umbel often 

 compact, the rays mostly short ; spikelets 

 linear, subterete, 10-20-flowered, 16-25 mm. 

 long, about 2 mm. thick, falling away from 

 the axis at maturity ; scales ovate-oblong, 

 appressed, imbricated, obtuse, rather firm, 

 green and 7-9-nerved on the. back, yellowish 

 on the sides ; stamens 3; style 3-cleft; rachis 

 broadly winged ; achene 3-angled, narrowly 

 obovoid, obtuse. 



In wet soil, Sonoran Zones; southern Califor- 

 nia north to Los Angeles and San Bernardino 

 Counties; Arizona; Texas; Florida; extending 

 northward along the Atlantic Coast to New Eng- 

 land; tropical America; India. Type locality: 

 Cayenne. 



The record of Cyperus pubescens Presl, from 

 Monterey, California, is an error in locality. 



2. ELEOCHARIS R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. 1 : 224. 1810. 



Annual or perennial sedges. Culms simple, triangular, quadrangular, terete, flatteiied or 

 grooved, the leaves reduced to sheaths or the lowest very rarely blade-bearing. Spikelets 

 solitarv. terminal, erect, several- to many-flowered, not subtended by an involucre. Scales 

 concave, spirallv imbricated all around. Perianth of 1-12 bristles, usually retrorsely barbed, 

 wanting in som'e species. Stamens 2-3. Style 2-cleft and achene lenticular or biconvex, or 

 3-cleft and achene 3-angled, but sometimes with very obtuse angles and appearing turgid. 

 Base of the style persistent on the summit of the achene, forming a terminal tubercle. 

 [Greek, referring to the growth of most of the species in marshy ground.] 



About 140 species, widely distributed. Besides the following, some 28 others occur farther east in North 

 America. Type species, Scirpus palustris L. 



Style-branches mostly 2; achene lenticular or plano-convex. 

 Fibrous-rooted annuals. 

 Achene black. 



Bristles brown; scales pale; achene 1 mm. long. 

 Bristles pale; scales purple-brown; achene 0.5 mm. long. 

 Achene brown. 



Spikelet ovoid to oblong. 



Tubercle narrower than the top of the achene. 

 Tubercle about as broad as the top of the achene. 

 Spikelet oblong-cylindric. 

 Perennial by rootstocks. 



Scales brown to purple-brown. 

 Scales pale green to straw-color. 

 Style-branches 3 ; achene trigonous. 



Tubercle manifestly distinct from the achene. 

 Achene ribbed and cancellate. 



caribaea. 

 atropurpurea. 



E. 

 E. 

 E. 



ovata. 



obtusa. 



engelmanni. 



6. E. palustris. 



7. E. macrostachya. 



8. E. acicularis 



