518 CYPERACKyE. (SEDGE TAMILY.) 



none. — Margins of ponds and streams, West Florida. Juno -Aug. Q) — • 

 Culms 3'-5'iiigli. Spikes l"-2"long, tlic lower scales deciduous as new 

 flowers are developed. Nut black, smooth and shining. 



■t- -t- Culms terete or compressed, more or less sponrji/. 



10. E. capitata, R. Brown. Rhizoma slender, creeping; culms com- 

 pressed; sjiikes sliurt, ovate, 12- 16-flowered ; scales membranaceous, wliitish, 

 oblong, obtuse, deciduous ; nut black and shining, broadly obovatc, biconvex, 

 tipped with the short conical tubercle ; bristles 6, as long as tlic nut. — Springy 

 or miry places, Florida, Georgia, and westward. June -Sept. IJ. — Culms 

 l'-4'high. Spikes l"-2" long. Scales often brown when young. Nut very 

 small. 



20. E. olivacea, Torr. Cnhn's compressed, furrowed, diffuse ; spikes 

 ovate, acutish, niany-llowered ; scales ovate, olituse, thin, puri)Iish on the sides, 

 green on the keel, the margins white ; nut obovatc, dull, dark olive ; tubercle 

 distinct, conical-beaked; bristles G-8, about half as long as the nut. — Wet 

 sandy places. North Carolina, and nortliward. Aug. and Sept. — Culms 2' -5' 

 long. Spikes 3" long, 20 - 30-flowercd. 



21. E. palustris, R Brown. Rhizoma creeping; culms slender, terete, 

 striate ; spikes olilong-laneeolate, mostly acute, many-flowered ; scales oblong, 

 membranaceous, brown on the sides, at length whitish, the upjjcr ones acute; 

 nut dull yellow, obovate, tumid, minutely dotted; tubercle short, triangular- 

 ovate, compressed; bristles 4, slender, commonly as long as the nut. (Scirpus 

 palustris, L.) — Marshes and wet places, Florida, and northward. June- Sept. 

 U. — Rhizoma black. Culms l°-3° long. Spikes 3" -5" long. 



22. E. Obtusa, Schultes. Culms tufted, terete, thick aTid spongy ; spikes 

 ovate or oblong, obtuse, many-flowcrcd ; scales tliin, oblong, obtuse, commonly 

 brown on the sides, green on the keel, with broad and white margins; style 

 2-3-cleft; nut (light brown) obovate, lenticular, smooth and shining, scarcely 

 wider than the short compressed acute tubercle ; bristles 6, rigid, twice tiic length 

 of the nut. (Scirpus capitatus. Ell.) — Muddy margins of ])onds and streams, 

 Florida, and northward. Common. June - Sept. — Culms C - 18' high. Spikes 

 2" - 4" long. 



^ 2. CHiETOCYPERUS. Spikes few-flowered, compressed : scales mnnhraiiaccous, 

 imhrirated in 2-3 rows: style 3-clefl. Culms capillary. 



2.3. E. acicularis, R. Br. Culms (2' -12' high) angled; spikes ovate, 

 .5- C-Howcred, acute; scales oblong, with reddish sides, mit oblong, white, 

 nearly terete, longitudinally ribbed and j)itted, pointed with the conical or de- 

 pressed tubercle ; bristles 3-4, shorter than tlie nut, som"times wanting. (Scir- 

 pus trichodes, Mulil.) — Margins of ponds, Florida, ami northward. June- 



Sept. 



24. E. pygmaea, Torr. Culms short (\'~2' high), grooved on one side; 

 ppikes ovate, 3 -Oflowered ; scales whitish, ovate ; nut ovate, piile, prominently 

 .Tangled, smooth and shining, narrowed above into the minute tulierele ; bristles 

 C, longer than the mit, sometimes wanting. (Scirpus capillaceus, Ell.) — Muddy 



