GENUS 5. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



321 



3. Fimbristylis puberula (Michx.) Vahl. 

 Hairy Fimbristylis. Fig. 786. 



Scirpns puberiilus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 31. 



1803. 

 F. puberula Vahl, Enum. 2: 289. 1806. 



Perennial by stout rootstocks, culms slender, 

 3-angled, 8'-2 tall, usually exceeding the leaves. 

 Leaves involute, less than i" wide when un- 

 rolled, often more or less pubescent, their 

 sheaths green ; leaves of the involucre 2-4, short ; 

 umbel simple or compound, the rays -2' long ; 

 central spikelets sessile ; spikelets oblong, ob- 

 tuse or subacute, 3 "-5" long, \"-\\" in di- 

 ameter; scales thin, brown with a lighter 

 midvein, broadly oblong or nearly orbicular, 

 dull, puberulent, obtuse or mucronate; stamens 

 2-3 ; style 2-clef t ; achene obovate or oblong, 

 biconvex, pale brown, longitudinally striate 

 and reticulated. 



Fields and meadows, southern New York to 

 Florida and Louisiana. Also from Ontario, 

 Michigan and Illinois to Kansas and Texas. Mis- 

 taken in our first edition for F. castdnca. July- 

 Sept. 



4. Fimbristylis Baldwiniana Torr Weak Fimbristylis. Fig. 787. 



F. Baldzi'lniana Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3 : 344. 1836. 



Annual, roots fibrous, culms slender, flattened, 

 striate, densely tufted, erect or ascending, 2'-!$' long, 

 usually longer than the leaves. Leaves flat, about 

 \" wide, glabrous or sparingly ciliate, pale green and 

 appearing glaucous, those of the involucre 3-5, one 

 of them often exceeding the umbel ; umbel simple or 

 slightly compound, the central spikelet sessile ; spike- 

 lets ovoid or ovoid-oblong, 3" -6" long, about i" in 

 diameter ; scales ovate, thin, pale greenish-brown, sub- 

 acute or mucronulate; stamen i; style 2-cleft, pubes- 

 cent; achene biconvex, obovoid, light brown, longi- 

 tudinally ribbed, the ribs tubercled and connected by 

 very fine cross-lines. 



In moist soil, southern Pennsylvania to Florida, west to 

 Illinois, Missouri and Texas. Included in our first edi- 

 tion in the southern and tropical American F. laxa Vahl. 

 July-Sept. 



5. Fimbristylis Vahlii (Lam.) Link. Vahl's 

 Fimbristylis. Fig. 788. 



Scirpus I'ahlii Lam. Tabl. Encycl. i : 139. 1791. 



F. Vahlii Link, Hort. Berol. i : 287. 1827. 



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



Annual, culms very slender, densely tufted, com- 

 pressed, striate, erect or ascending, i'-4' high, longer 

 than or equalling the leaves. Leaves setaceous or 

 almost filiform, rough, those of the involucre 3-5. 

 erect, much exceeding the simple capitate cluster ot 

 3-8 spikelets; spikelets oblong-cylindric, obtuse, 

 2"-4" long, about \" thick, many-flowered; scales 

 lanceolate, pale greenish-brown, acuminate ; stamen 

 i; style 2-cleft, glabrous below; achene minute 

 biconvex, yellowish-white, cancellate by longitudina 

 and transverse ridges. 



In moist soil, Missouri to Texas, east to North Caro- 

 lina and Florida. California, Central and South America. 

 Also in ballast about the eastern seaports. July-Oct. 



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