6S TRTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. eriophorum. 



Hab. In a sphag:nous swamp near Litchfield, Connecticut. 

 Brace. Near Williams College, Maasacliusetts. Dewey. 

 On high mountain meadows. Canada to Virginia, Pursh, 



ft Sfiikea numerous. 



3. E. polystachyon L. : leaves flat, triquetrous at the ex- 

 tremities ; culm nearly terete ; spikes on scabrous peduncles, 

 nodtiing. W i II d. Sped. p. 312, Va h I Emim. U. p. 389, 

 Eng. Bot. t. 563. Pxirsh Fl. I. p. 58. Muhl. Gram. 

 p. 48. Y^, tenellum Nutt. Gen. II. Supp. E. polystachy^ 

 urn /9. M ic h. Fl, I. p. 34. E. lalifollum U opp e, R o em. 

 ^ Schult. II. p. 159. 



Root fibrous. Culm a foot and a half or 2 feet high, a little com- 

 pressed below, very smooth. Leaves 2 — 3 on the culm, 4 — 6 

 inches long, nearly 2 lines wide, with a prominent midrib, sca- 

 brous on the margin, distinctly triangular towards the point, 

 which is of a brownish colour. Sfiikea 9 — 12, ovate, on fili- 

 form, unequal and retrorsely scabrous peduncles bursting from 

 the terminal sheath. Involucrum 1 -leaved, erect, about 2 

 inches long. Glumes ovate, acute, scarious; sides black or 

 dark brown. Stamens 3. Style 2-cleft. Seed oblong-cunei- 

 form, triangular, brown. Woolly hairs 30 or 40, white with 

 a reddish tinge, silky, straight, a little flattened, about 3-fourths 

 of an inch long. 



Hab. In bog- meadows and sphagnous swamps. July. 



4. E. virginicum L.: culm nearly terete below, obtusely 

 triangular above ; leaves flat, very long ; spikes clustered, 

 erect, nearly sessile ; involucrum 2 — 3-leaved. Sp. pi. 77. 

 IV a Id. Sjoec. 1. p. 313. Walt. Car. p. 71. Mich. FL 

 I. p. 34. Vahl Enum. II. p. 390. Pursh Fl. I. p. 58. 

 Elliott Sk.\. Y>'9'2. Muhl. Gram. Tp. 49. Roem.^- 

 Schxtlt, 1. p. 159. E. spica compacta erecta, &c. Gron. 

 Virg. 132. Pluk. A\m. 179. t. 299. f. 4. 



Root creeping. Culm 2 — 4 feet high, leafy, smootft. Leaves a 

 fcot or 18 inches long; ahf)ut 2 lines wide. Involucrum gene- 

 rally of 2 narrow leaves, 4 — 6 inches long. Peduncles 3 — 4, 

 each bearing several conglomerated spikes and forming a kind 

 of umbel. Sfiikes ovate, acute when young, sessile on the pe- 

 duncles. Glumes ovate, acute, striate ; inferior ones empty ; 

 sides brownish ; carina green. Stamen I. Style 3-cleft, sca- 

 brous. Wool of a reddish colour, at first not longer than the 

 glumes, but becoming 3 times as long when mature. Seed 

 ovate, plano-convex, slightly acuminated, brown. 



Hab. In swamps and bog-meadows ; common. July. 



iS. gracik*: culm very slender; leaves almost filiform. 

 Hab. In the Cedar Swamp near New-Durham, New-Jersey. 

 August. 



