514 CYPERACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 



or recurved ; spikes small, ovate, 3 - 9 in a cluster; scales spotted; scales of 

 the periantli very thin, the nerves at lengtli free and bristle-like below ; nut ob- 

 long, contracted into a short neck. (Kyllingia maculata, Michx.) — Springy or 

 miry places, Florida to North Carolina. July - Sept. — Culms 4' - 8' high. 

 Spikes 1 " - 2" long, green. 



6. rUIRENA, Rottb. 



Spikes many-flowered. Scales imbricated in many rows, awned at the apex. 

 Perianth consisting of three petal-like stalked scales alternating with as many 

 bristles. Stamens 3. Style 3-cleft. Nut 3-angled, raised on a stalk, and pointed 

 with the persistent base of the style. — Culms terete, jointed. Spikes single or 

 clustered, lateral and terminal. Scales hairy. 



1 . F. SCirpoidea, Vahl. Rhizoma thick and creeping ; culms slender ; 

 leaves reduced to pointed sheaths, smooth ; spikes 1-3, terminal, ovate, sup- 

 ported by a small bract-like involucre ; scales obovate, 9-nerved, pointed with a 

 short erect awn ; stalks of the oval barely pointed petal-like scales longer than 

 the hispid bristles. — Wet sandy places, near the coast, Florida and Georgia. 

 May Sept. U— Culms \° high. 



2.' P, squarrosa, Michx. Culms clustered, smooth, or pubescent near 

 the summit ; leaves flat, linear or linear-lanceolate, the margins, like the lower 

 sheaths, hairy ; spikes oblong, in lateral and terminal clusters ; scales oblong- 

 obovate, with the long pale awn recurved ; petal-like scales ovate, acute ; bristles 

 as long as the stalk of the obovate nut. — Var. hispida. (F. hispida, Ell.) 

 Leaves, sheaths, and upper portion of tlie culm bristly-hairy ; petal-like scales 

 acuminate; bristles nearly as long as the nut. — Swamps, Florida, and north- 

 ward. July -Sept. U— Culms ^0-2° high. Leaves 2' -5' long. Terminal 

 cluster occasionally compound. 



7. ELEOCHARIS, R. Brown. Spike-Rush. 



Spikes many- (rarely 2-4-) flowered. Scales imbricated on all sides of the 

 rachis, or somewhat 2-ranked, the lowest usually empty, bract-like, and persistent. 

 Perianth of 3 -8 bearded bristles, occasionally wanting. Stamens 1-3. Style 

 2- 3-cleft. Nut compressed, biconvex, or 3-angled, crowned with the persistent 

 jointed base of the style (tubercled). — Commonly perennials, with creeping 

 rootstocks. Culms jointless, leafless, sheathed at the base, bearing at the apex a 

 single spike. 



§ I. ELEOCHARIS Proper. Spikes ma ny -flowered : scales imhricatcd in several 



rows. 

 * Spikes cijlindrical, scarcdij thicker than the soft cellular culms: nut biconvex, pitted 



or wrinkled in longitudinal lines. 



■1- Scales rounded, thick and faintly nerved : style 3-cleft : hri.stles 6, sparimjly bearded 



or smoothish, as long as the nut. (Limnochloa, Nees.) 



I- E. equisetoides, Ton-. Culms stout, terete, knotted by cross parti- 

 tions, roughish ; scales pale, round-ovate, obtuse or the upper acute, scarious on 



