CYPERACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 531 



§ 1. SCLERIA Proper. Nut supported hy an annular or 3- 6-lol>€d disk. 

 * Nut smooth : stamens 3 



1. S. triglomerata, Michx. Culms stout, rough, sharply angled (2° -3° 

 high); leaves broadly linear, smooth or hairy ; spikes disposed in 3 - 6 clusters 

 at the summit of the culm, and 1-2 distant lateral ones on long and drooping 

 peduncles ; disk forming a complete narrow ring at the base of the globose- 

 ovate yellowish white nut. — Low grounds, Florida, and northward. June - 

 August. 



2. S. Oligantha, Ell., Michx.? Culms (l°-2° high) slender, smooth, 

 sharply angled, often glaucous, like the smooth linear leaves; spikes 3-5, sin- 

 gle, scattered, forming a terminal interrupted compound spike, and 1-2 distant 

 lateral ones, on long drooping peduncles ; bracts leafy ; disk of 9 minute globular 

 lobes at the base of the white and polished ovate nut. — Thickets and margins of 

 fields, Florida to South Carolina. July. 



* * Nut reticulated : disk of S flattened lobes : stamens 2. 



3. S. reticularis, Michx, Culms slender (1° - 1^° high), scabrous below ; 

 leaves narrowly linear ; spikes clustered, axillary and terminal, the lateral ones on 

 a short erect peduncle ; nut globose, small, reticulated and pitted ; lobes of the 

 disk appressed to the base of the nut. — Margins of ponds, Florida, and north- 

 ward. Aug. and Sept. 



4. S. laxa, Torr. Culms weak, rough on the angles ; leaves linear, obtuse ; 

 spikes separate, the axillary ones on a long and drooping peduncle ; nut globose, 

 wrinkled and somewhat liairy, obscurely ])itted ; lobes of the disk appressed to 

 the nut. (S. reticularis,)?//.) — Damp pine barrens, Florida, and northward. 

 Aug. - Oct. — Culms 1° - U° long. Nut U" - 2" in diameter. 



* * * ]^,it icartij : disk hearimj 3-6 globular lobes : stamens 3. 



5. S. ciliata, Michx. Culms slender, rigid (1|°- 2° high), smooth below, 

 sparingly fringed on the angles above ; leaves 2, narrowly linear (1" wide), rigid, 

 smooth, or witii scattered hairs on the margins ; sheaths pubescent ; clusters ter- 

 minal ; sterile spikes large, many-flowered ; nut globose, pointed, closely beset 

 with unequal warts, these corresponding to tiie angles of the nut and at tiie 

 base larger than tiie rest ; lobes of the disk 3, globular, entire. — Dry pine bar- 

 rens. Florida to South Carolina. June - Aug. — Rhizoma thick and creeping. 



6. S. EUiottii. Culms stout {^°-l° high), densely rough-fringed on the 

 angles throughout ; leaves 3 -4, broadly linear (2"-3" wide), closely fringed on 

 the margins and midrib beneath ; sheaths pubescent ; clusters 2, the lateral one 

 remote, on a short erect peduncle; sterile spike small, few-flowered ; nut globose, 

 deeply wrinkled or pitted, and with slender warty projections at the base ; lobes 

 of the disk 3, globose, 2-lobed. (S. hirtella, Ell., Michx. ? not of Swartz.) — 

 Low pine barrens, Florida to North Carolina. July. 



7. S. paucifiora, Muhl. Smoothish or hairy or villous throughout ; 

 culms (6'- 12' high) slender; leaves narrowly linear ; clusters small, of 1 -few 

 spikes, terminal, and also a remote axillary one on a short erect peduncle ; ster- 

 ile spike few-flowered ; nut globose (small), pointed, closely beset with minute 



