CYPERACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 547 



Florida, and northward. June- Sept. — Culm 2°-3° high. Leaves 2-3, 

 mostly shorter than the culm. Spikes 4" -6" long. 



4. S. Olneyi, Gray. Culm stout, with three-winged angles, and three 

 deeply channelled sides, leafless, or the sheaths ending in short pointed leaves ; 

 involucre short (^'- 1' long), rigid; spikes 7-13, short, ovate, dark brown; 

 scales smooth, orbicular, 2-cleft, mucronate ; anthers obtuse ; style 2-cleft ; 

 nut rouud-obovate, plano-convex, as long as the 6 hispid bristles. — Brackish 

 marshes. West Florida, and northward. June -Sept. — Culm 2^-4^ high. 

 Leaves 2' - 4' long. Spikes 2" long. 



-1- -f- Spikes umhelled. 



5. S. lacustris, L. Culm tall (3°-8° high), terete, leafless, or the rad- 

 ical sheaths leafy-pointed ; involucre 1-leaved, pungent, shorter than the 

 decompound umbel ; spikes ovate or oblong, mostly clustered ; scales ovate, 

 emarginate, rough-awned, ciliate on the margins, pubescent on the back and 

 green keel ; style 2-cleft ; nut obovate, pointed, plano-convex, shorter than the 

 3-6 strongly hispid bristles. — Varies, with the broader keeled and fimbriate 

 bristles rather shorter than the round-obovate nut. — Fresh or brackish 

 marshes and ponds, Florida, and northward. July -Sept. 



6. S. leptolepis, Chapm. Culms 3-angled, 2° -3° high; leaves long, 

 sharply keeled, triangular-compressed near the obtuse curved apex, the im- 

 mersed ones flat and pellucid ; involucre slender (7' long), leaf-like, with 

 shorter ones at the divisions of the compound umbel ; spikes single, oblong or 

 cylindrical, many-flowered, acute ; scales liglit brown, lanceolate-oblong, acute, 

 smooth, membranaceous, mucronate, and, like the three obtuse anthers, finely 

 spotted ; style 3-parted ; nut whitish, 3-angled, oblong-obovate, long-pointed, 

 shorter than the 5 slender and minutely denticulate bristles. (S. Canbyi, 

 Gray.) — Lakes and ponds, Middle Florida, and westward. Sept. 



§ 2. Culms jointed, leafij throughout: tanhel terminal: involucre 2 -several- 

 leaved, spreading. 



* Bristles hispid, downward. 



7. S. raaritimus, L. Culm sharply 3-angled, rough above; leaves 

 longer than the culm, keeled ; umbel simple, I -3-rayed, bearing single or 2 -3 

 spikes in a cluster, or the spikes all clustered and sessile ; involucre 2 4-leaved, 

 much longer than the umbel ; spikes large, ovate or oblong-ovate, dull brown ; 

 scales thin, ovate, pubescent, tipped with a spreading awn ; nut round-obovate, 

 plano-convex or lenticular, smooth and shining, twice the length of the 4 weak 

 bristles. — Saline marshes, Florida, and northward. August - Sept. — Culm 

 2° -3° high. Spikes 6"- 10" long, 4" in diameter. 



8. S. polyphyllus, Vahl. Culm obtuse-angled, smooth ; leaves long, 

 rough on the margins ; umbel decompound, spreading ; spikes small, 3 - 8 in a 

 cluster, ovate, yellowish- brown ; scales ovate, mucronate, keeled ; bristles 6, 

 slender, hispid near the summit, mostly tortuous, 2-3 times as long as the pale 

 compressed-3-angled pointed nut. (S. exaltatus, Pursh.) — Shady swamps, 

 North Carolina, and northward. July. — Culm 2°-5° high. Spikes 1" 

 long. 



