CLASS IV. GL.UMACEOUS EKDOGENS. 



Flowers with glumes ; or floral organs enclosed in imbricated 

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

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

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



Order CLX. CYPERACEiE— Sedges. 



Hcrla mostly pereniiiul, coarse, irnuis-like, cieapitosc. Knot fibrous or rarely tuberouB. 



Stems iculms) nsiially solid with pilli. penerally without joints or nodes, uiid triangular. 



Lrs. with their sheuilis entire. Injlon-fcrncf, ino..'ily cjipitate or spicate. 



Fls. pertei-t or nionurious, solitary in the axil ol' each bract (glume, .si-ale). . _/ • 



Per. wanting', or represented by a lew hypo^yiious bristles, or a rup-ahuped or saccate perigymutn. 



S/rt. detinite (1— 1-2), irioslly 3. .l/)///^/*- lived by their base, entire, 2-celled. 



Ova. generally either surrounded by bristles, or invested in the saccate perigl/TUUtn. Ovule erect. 



Sty. 2 or 3, more or less united. Siiirmas undivided, rarely bitid. 



Fr. an achenium. Embryo in the end ol the albumen next the hilura. 



Genera 112, species 2000. The sedpes abound in almost all countries and climes of the globe, and in all 

 localities, but are more common in the meadows, marshes and swamiJS of the temperate zones. About 

 25 genera and 340 species are known in Nortii America. 



Properties.— Thvy are in general little used lor food or in the arts. Their coarse herbage is often eaten 

 bv cattle, but thev are nearlv destitute of the sweet and nutritious properties of the grasses. 1 he leaves 

 of some of the larfier species are u.sed in lluly to bind flasks, and in weaving.the bottoms of chairs. 

 Yet, although of so little apparent value, their vast numbers authorize the belief that they 8uDser\e 

 many highly important ends in the economy of nature. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



f Flowers in axillao', racemose spikelets. . •,;..•,• • Duhchium. 1 



I Spikelets linear, many-flowered, distinct, loose, typerus. Z 



^ ^ Ach. triangular. Marisciis. 3 



Fls. all terminal. ( Spikelets 1—2 flowered, in hds. ? Ach lenticular. Kyltingm. 4 



( PerigyniumofSovate, unguiculate petals, with 3bristles. Fuirena. 5 



r Leaves 0. Spike solitary, terminal. . Eleocharis. 6 



I f Bristles 3— 6 Scnpus. 7 



i J Bristles numerous, long. . Eriophorwn. 8 



Fls. all Leaves 1 ^ Style 2-clett. • . Fimbristylis. 9 



termiu. Ipresent. . L Bristles 0. {Style 3-cleft. . Trichelostylw. 10 



spirally or ( Ach. not 

 irregularly < enclosed. 



Bristles 3—6. Sty. deciduous. Scirpus. 



Flowers all lateral. < Bristles 0. Leaves radical. . Hemicarpha. 11 



] Style short, bulbous at base. Rhynchospcra. 13 



c i Flowers fBrist. 3— 6. ( Stvle very long, horn-like. . Ceratoscfiosmis.U 



J^ \ both J { Spikelets 20— 30-flowered. . Psilocarya. 12 



-I axil and! ^ Spikelets 4 Ach. corky, brown. C7a<//«/«. 15 



.._^ ^ .a! Uermin. I Bristles 0. ( few flwrd. { Ach. bony, white. Sc/er/a. 16 



imbricated. ( Achenium enclosed in a saccate perigynium. Fls. declinous. . Carex. 17 



Tribe 1. CYPEREJE.— Flowers $ . Spikelets distichously imbricated. 

 1. DULICHIUM. 



Gr. Svo}, two, \€iy(^r]v, scale; alluding \u the glumes in two rows? 



Spikelets linear-lanceolate, subcompressed ; glumes sheathing, 

 closely imbricated in 2 rows : style long, bifid, the persistent base 

 crowning the compressed achenium ; ovary invested with setas. — 

 Stem lea^y. Spikes axillary^ racemose. 



D. SPATHACEUM. Pers. (Cyperus. Linn. Scirpus. Mich.x.) 

 St. round, leafv and somewhat 3-sided above, thick, sheathed below ; Ivs. 

 alternate, pointing 3 ways, 2—4' by 3' ; s/ieaths tubular, shorter than the inter- 

 nodes; .«;;;f/.cs axillar}' from within the sheaths and terminal, each ^consisting 

 of 8 — 10 linear-lanceolate, alternate spikelets in 2 rows ; spikelcts 5 — 7-flowered, 

 nearly an inch in length; glumes linear-lanceolate.— 7|. Marshes, borders of 

 streams, U. S. and Can. Aug. 



2. CYPERUS. 



Spikelets compressed, distinct, many-flowered ; glumes imbricated 

 in two, opposite rows, nearly all with a flower enclosed : ovary generally 

 without setae. — Mostly ■!. Stem simple, leafy at base, mostly triangu- 

 lar, bearing an involvxratc, simple or compound umbel at top. 



