CLASS IV. GLUMACEOUS ENDOGENS. 



Flowers witli glumes ; or floral organs enclosed in imbricated 



bracts, and arranged in spikelets, having no proper perianth (calyx 



or corolla). Ovary with one cell containing a solitary ovule and 



becoming a one-seeded fruit (achenium or caryopsis). 



ORDER CLX. CYPERACE^. The SeJge Trib,. 



Fls.— Perfect or monoecious, solitary in the axil of each bract (glume, scale). 



■?«'■•— Wanting-, or only represented by a few hypofj'iious bristles (setre). 



Sia.— Definite {1—12), mostly 3. Aiithers fixed by their base, entire, 2-celled. 



Oua.— Generally either surrounded by setcB (rudimentary perianth), or invested in a stic 



(perig-ynium) composed of united bracteoles. Ovule erect. 

 Sty.—'Z or 3, more or less united. Stigmas undivided, rarely bifid. 

 Fr.—\n achenium. Embri/o in the end of the albumen next the hilum. 



A large order of coarse, grass-like, caespitose plant.s. Root fibrous. Stem (often called 

 culm) usually solid with pith, generally without joints or nodes, and triangular. Leaves 

 ■with their sheaths entire. The sedges abound in almost all countries and climes of the 

 globe and in all localities, but are more common in the meadows, marshes and swamps of 

 tlie temperate zones About 15 genera and 250 species are known in North America. 



Properties. Tliey are in generallittle used for food or in the arts. Their coarse herbage 

 is often eaten by cattle, but they are nearly destitute of the sweet and nutritious properties 

 of the grasses. The leaves of some of the larger species are used in Italy to bind flasks, 

 and in weaving the bottoms of chairs, "^'et, aUhough of so little apparent value, their vast 

 numbers authorize the belief that they subserve many highly important ends in the econ- 

 omy of nature. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



)( Stem ( Style bifid. . Snrpus. § 5. 5 



Setre < naked. ( Style trifld. Scirpus. § 4. 5 



none. ( Stem leafy. . . . Schanus. 8 



I Umbels cymose. . Scirpus. § 2. 5 



Setae < Spikelets several,awned. Ftiirena. 4 



3 — G. ( Spikelet solitary. . Scirpus. ^ 3. 5 



£5 led all around. ... I Setae numerous, long, white. Eriophorum. 6 



^ M I Glumes imbricat- ( Spikelets distinct. . . Cyperus. X 



o K ("all terminal. [ ed in 2 rows. . . . ( Spikelets in dense heads. . Mariscus. 2 



,a all lateral upon a leafless stem Scirpus. § 1. 5 



CS \ ( Glumes imbricated all around. Rhinchospora. 7 



^ . 1 both lateral J Flowers perfect. ( Glumes imbricated in 2 rows. Dulichium. 3 



Oo [and termiiial. I Fls. monoecious. Spikelets fascicled. Seed bony. Scleria. 9 



Ovary enclosed in a ventricose sac (perigynium). Flowers monoecious. Carex. 10 



Tlibe 1. CYPERACE^ vera. 



Flowers perfect or monoclinous. Spikelets distichous, that is, with the glumes 

 imbricated in 2 rows. 



1. CYPE'RUS. 

 Spikelels compressed, distinct, many-flowered; glumes 

 imbricaled in two, opposite rows, nearly all with a flower 

 enclosed; ovary generally without setae. Mostly perennial. 



