CYPERACEAE. 



59 



1. CYPERUS L. Galingale. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Stems mostly simple, 

 triangular, leafy near the base and with 1 or more in- 

 volucrate leaves at the base of the simple or compound, 

 umbellate or capitate inflorescence. Rays of the umbel 

 sheathed at the base, usually very unequal. Spikelets 

 flat or nearly terete, composed of few-many persistent 

 or deciduous scales, these concave, conduplicate or 

 keeled, 2-ranked, all flower-bearing or the lower empty. 

 Flowers perfect. Perianth none. Stamens 1-3. Styles 

 2-3-cleft, deciduous from the summit of the lenticular 

 or 3-angled achene. 



Styles 2-cleft; achenes lenticular; rachis wing- 

 less. 

 Annuals; scales folded and sharply carinate; 

 achenes little flattened. 

 Scales obtuse, dark brown; achenes 



oblong. 1. 



Scales acute, yellow brown; achenes 

 ovate. 2. 



Perennial from a wiry rootstock; achenes 

 biconvex. 3. 



Styles 3-cleft; achenes 3-angled. 



Scales with setaceous recurved tips. 4. 



Scales merely acute or obtuse. 



Spikelets flattened, their scales falling 

 away at maturity from the per- 

 sistent rachis. 

 Perennial by tuber-bearing rootstock; 

 wings persistent, attached to the 

 rachis for their whole length. 5. 



Annual; wings scarious, soon separat- 

 ing from the rachis to the base. 6. 

 Spikelets subterete, falling away with 

 the scales attached at maturity. 

 Spikes oblong, compact; spikelets 



slender. 7. 



Spikes short, loose and spreading; 

 spikelets broader. 8. 



C. melanostachys. 

 C. bromoides. 

 C. laevigatus. 

 C. inflexus. 



C. esculentus. 

 C. parishii. 



C. speciosus. 

 C. longispicatus. 



1. C. melanostachys H. B. K. Stems tufted, slender, 1-4 dm. 

 high; leaves about 2 mm. wide, those of the involucre 1-2, elongated; 

 spikelets sessile in a capitate cluster, appearing somewhat lateral, 

 6-10 mm. long, linear-oblong; scales ovate, obtuse, 2 mm. long, 

 dark brown with pale or green keel; stamens 2 or 3; style 2-cleft, 

 scarcely exserted; achene lenticular, oblong, somewhat pointed, dull. 

 (C diandrus capitatus Britton.) 



Common in moist sandy places on river bottoms below 1500 

 feet. Los Angeles; San Bernardino. 



