518 CTPERACK.K. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



none. — Margins of ponds and streams, West Florida. June -Aug. ® — 

 Culms 3' -5' high. Spikes 1"- 2" long, the lower scales deciduous as new 

 flowers are developed. Nut black, smooth and shining. 



■*- +■ Culms terete or compressed, more or less spongy. 



19. E. capitata, R. Brown. Rhizoma Blender, creeping; culms com- 

 pressed; spikes short, ovate, 12 — 16-floweredj scales membranaceous, whitish, 

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

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

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

 1'- 4' high. Spikes 1"- 2" long. Scales often brown when young. Nut very 

 small. 



20. E. olivacea, Torr. Culms compressed, furrowed, diffuse ; spikes 

 ovate, acotish, many-flowered ; scales ovate, obtuse, thin, purplish on the sides, 

 green on the keel, the margins white ; not obovate, dull, dark olive; tubercle 

 distinct, conical-beaked; bristles 6-8, about half as long as the nut. — Wet 

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

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



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

 striate; spikes oblong-lanceolate, mostly acute, many -flowered ; scales oblong, 

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

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

 ovate, compressed ; bristles 4, Blender, commonly as long as the nut. (Scirpua 

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

 y.— Rhizoma black. Culms 1°- 3° long. Spikes 3" -5" long. 



22. E. obtusa, Schultes. Culms tufted, terete, thick and spongy ; spikes 

 ovate or oblong, obtuse, many-flowered; scales thin, 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 shilling, scarcely 

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

 of the nut. ( Scirpus capitatns, Ell.) — Muddy margins of ponds and streams, 

 Florida, and northward. Common. June-Sept. — Culms 6'- 18' high. Spikes 

 2" - 4" long. 



$ 2. CILETOCYPERUS. Spikes few-flowered, compressed ': scales membranaceous, 

 imbricated in 2-3 rcwsi style 3-clrJl. Culms capillary. 



23. E. acicularis, R. Br. Culms (2'-l2' high) angled; spikes ovate, 

 5— 6-flowered, acute; Bcales oblong, with reddish sides, nut oblong, white, 



nearly terete, longitudinally ribbed and pitted, pointed with the conical or de- 

 pressed tubercle J bristles 3 - I, shorter than the nut, sometimes wanting. ( Seir- 



I ms trichodes, IfuhL) — Margins of ponds, Florida, and northward. June- 

 Sept 



24. E. pygmaea, Tow. Culms short (l'-2' high), grooved on one side; 

 spikes ovate, 8 -6-flowered; scales whitish, ovate; nul ovate, pale, prominently 

 3-angled, smooth and shining, narrowed above Into the minute tubercle; bristles 

 I, longer than the oat, sometimes wanting. (Sdrpus eapillaceus, Ell.) — Muddy 



