CYPERACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 549 



scale, and forming a woolly or silky tuft. Stamens commonly .3. Style 3- 

 cleft, deciduous. Nut 3-angled or lenticular. — Perennials, with leafy culms, 

 in our species, and clustered or umbelled spikes. 



1. E. Virginicum, L. Culm nearly terete, rigid; leaves narrowly 

 linear, elongated ; spikes densely clustered, nearly sessile, erect ; involucre 2 - 

 3-leaved ; wool reddish, thrice the length of the brownish scales ; nut com- 

 pressed-3-angled, acute. — Bogs and swamps, Florida, and northward. June - 

 August. — Culm 2° - 3° high. Leaves 10' - 18' long. 



2. E. polystachyon, L. Culm terete; leaves broadly linear, 3-augled 

 at the summit ; spikes umbelled, distinct, on slender at length nodding pedun- 

 cles ; involucre 2-leaved, shorter than the umbel ; wool white, many times 

 longer than the dark brown scales ; nut obtuse. — Meadows and bogs in the 

 upper districts, Georgia, and northward. August - Sept. — Culm 1°- 2° high. 

 Leaves 3' - 6' long. 



10. FIMBRISTYLIS, Vahl. 



Spikes many-flowered. Scales imbricated in several rows. Perianth none. 



Stamens 1-3. Style 2-cleft, commonly flat and fringed on the margins, 



tumid at the base, deciduous. Nut lenticular. — Culms jointless, leafy at the 



base. Involucre 1 - several-leaved. Spikes terminal, umbellate or clustered. 



* Spikes umbelled. 



1. F. spadicea, Vahl. Perennial; culms clustered, nearly terete, rigid 

 • (2'^ -3° high) ; leaves long, linear or filiform, concave, rough on the margins ; 



umbel simple or compound, erect ; involucre 2 -3-leaved; spikes ovate or ob- 

 long, dark brown ; scales smooth, rigid, rounded ; nut obovate, acute, slightly 

 furrowed and pitted. — Salt marshes, Florida, and northward. August - Oct. 

 Var. puberula. (Scirpus puberulus, Michx.) Culms single, slender 

 (l°-2°high); leaves filiform, involute, and, like the spikes, densely pubes- 

 cent and somewhat hoary ; nut round-obovate, obtuse. — Low pine barrens. 



2. P. laxa, Vahl. Annual; culms (6' -18' high) slender, and, like the 

 narrowly linear leaves, often pubescent ; umbel mostly simple ; involucre 2-4- 

 leaved ; spikes oblong-ovate ; scales orbicular, mucronate ; nut obovate, strongly 

 furrowed and pitted, warty on the edges. (Scirpus sulcatus. Ell.) — Low 

 grounds, in fields and waste places, Florida to North Carolina. August - 

 Sept. — Umbel occasionally reduced to a single spike. 



* * Spikes clustered, sessile. 



3. F. Vahlii, Link. Annual; culms densely tufted (3' -6' high), bris- 

 tle-like, like the rough leaves; spikes .5-10 in a terminal cluster, oblong or 

 cylindrical, pale, or at length yellowish brown ; involucre 4-leaved, erect- 

 spreading, longer than the culm ; scales lanceolate, tapering into a slender 

 spreading point; nut oblong-obovate, crossed with faint lines. — River banks, 

 Florida, and westward. Augu.st - Sept. — Spikes 2" - 3" long. 



11. TRICHELOSTYLIS, Lestib. 

 Spikes terete, many-flowered. Scales imbricated in few (4-8) rows. Peri- 

 anth none. Style 3-cleft, tumid at the base, deciduous. Nut 3-angled. — 

 Culms jointless, leafy at the base. Spikes umbelled. 



