SEDGE FAMILY 



267 



3. STENOPHYLLUS Raf. Moo-. 4. 1825. 



Mostly annual sedges, with slender erect culms, leafy below, the leaves narrowly linear or 

 filiform, with ciliate or pubescent sheaths. Spikelets umbellate, capitate or solitary, sub- 

 tended by a one- to several-leaved involucre, their scales spirally imbricated all around, mostly 

 deciduous. Flowers perfect. Perianth none. Stamens 2 or 3. Style 2-3-cleft, glabrous, its 

 base much swollen and persistent as a tubercle on the achene as in Eleocliaris. Achene. 

 3-angled, turgid or lenticular. [Greek, referring to the narrow leaves.] 



A genus of some 20 species, natives of temperate and warm regions. Besides the following, 5 others 

 occur in the southeastern United States. Type species, Scirpus stenophylius Ell. 



1. Stenophylius capillaris (L.j Britton. 

 Hair-like Stenophylius. Fig". 639. 



Scirpus capillaris L. Sp. PI. 49. 1753. 

 Fimbristylis capillaris A. Gray, Man. e-d. 1, 530. 1S48. 

 Stenophylius capillaris Britton, Bull. Torrey Cluli 21: 

 30. 1894. 



Annual; roots fibrous; culms filiform, 

 densely tufted, erect, grooved, smooth, 5-25 cm. 

 tall. Leaves roughish, tnuch shorter than the 

 culm, their sheaths more or less pubescent with 

 long hairs ; involucral leaves 1-3, setaceous ; 

 spikelets narrowly oblong, somewhat 4-sided, 

 5-8 mm. long, less than 2 mm. thick, several in 

 a terminal umbel, or in depauperate forms 

 solitary ; scales oblong, obtuse or emarginate, 

 puberulent, dark brown with a green keel ; 

 stamens 2 ; style 3-clef t ; achene yellow-brown, 

 narrowed at the base, very obtuse or truncate 

 at the summit, 0.5 mm. long, transversely 

 wrinkled ; tubercle minute, depressed. 



Grassy and rocky situations. Transition Zone; 

 southern California to Oregon; Arizona to Florida, 

 Minnesota and Maipe; Cuba; Central and South 

 America. Type locality: Virginia. 



4. FIMBRISTYLIS \'ahl, Eniim. 2: 285. 1806. 



Annual or perennial sedges. Culms leafy below. Spikelets umbellate or capitate, terete, 

 several- to many-flowered, subtended by a one- to many-leaved involucre, their scales 

 spirally imbricated all around, mostly deciduous, all fertile. Perianth none. Stamens 1-3. 

 Style 2-3-cleft, pubescent or glaljrous, its base much enlarged, falling away from the summit 

 of the achene at maturity. Achene lenticular, biconvex, or 3-angled, reticulated, cancellate, or 

 longitudinally ribbed or striate in our species. [Greek, in allusion to the fringed style of 

 some species.] 



A large genus, the species widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions. Besides the following, 

 some 8 othei^s occur in the southern and eastern parts of North America. Type species, Fimbristylis acumi- 

 nata Vahl. 

 Style-branches 2; achene lenticular. 



Spikelets in a terminal head; scales acuminate; plant diminutive. 



Spikelets umbeled; plant tall. 

 Style-branches 3; achene trigonous. 



1. F. vahl a. 



2. F. thermalis. 



3. F. miiiacca. 



\. Fimbristylis vahlii (Lam.) Link. 



Vahl's Fimbristylis. 



Fig. 



640. 



Scirpus vahlii Lam. Tab!. Encycl. 1: 139. 1791. 

 Fimbristylis Vahlii Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 287. 1827. 

 Fimbristylis congesta Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3: 345. 1836. 

 Annual ; culms very slender, densely tufted, 

 compressed, striate, 2-10 cm. high, longer than or 

 equaling the leaves. Leaves setaceous or almost 

 filiform, rough, those of the involucre 3-5, erect, 

 much exceeding the simple capitate cluster of 3-8 

 spikelets ; spikelets oblong-cylindric, obtuse, 4-8 

 mm. long, about 1 mm. thick, many-flowered; 

 scales lanceolate, pale greenish brown, acuminate; 

 stamen 1 ; style 2-clef t, glabrous below ; achene 

 minute, biconvex, yellowish white, cancellate. 



Shore of Clear Lake, Tulare County; sand-bar. Fort 

 Yuma, California; Texas to Florida, Missouri and North 

 Carolina. Central and South America. Type locality: 

 cited as Spain, presumably in error. 



