514 L vri:i{AcK-K. (skdgk family.) 



or recurved ; spikes small, ovate, .'l - 'J in a cluster; scales spotted; scales ii( 

 the perianth very thin, the nerves at leii;;th free and bristle-like below ; nut ob- 

 lon;;, contracted into a short nock. (K\lliii;.'ia niaculata, Mirftx.) — S])rin{^y or 

 miry places, Florida to North Carolina. July- Sept. — Culms 4' - 8' liij;h. 

 Spikes l"-2" long, green. 



6. FUIRENA, Kottb. 



Spikes many-flowered. Scales imbricated in many rows, awncd at the apex. 

 Perianth consisting of three petal-like stalked scales alternating with as many 

 bristles. Stamens 3. Style .3-cleft. Nut 3-angled, raised on a stalk, and pointed 

 with the persistent base of the style. — Culms terete, jointed. Spikes single or 

 clustered, lateral and terminal. Scales hairy. 



1. F. seirpoidea, Vahl. Khi/.oma thick and civeping; culms slender; 

 leaves reduced to pointed sheaths, smooth ; spikes 1-3, terminal, ovate, sup- 

 ported by a small bract-like involucre ; scales obovate, 9-nerved, pointed with a 

 short erect awn ; stalks of the oval barely pointed pctal-likc scales longer than 

 the hispid bristles. — Wet sandy places, near the coast, Florida and Georgia. 

 May Sejit. y.— Culms 1° high. 



2. F. squarrosa, Micbx. Culms clustered, smooth, or pubescent near 

 the summit; loaves flat, linear or linear-lanceolate, the marnins, like the lower 

 sheaths, hairy ; spikes oblong, in lateral and terminal clusters ; scales oblong- 

 obovatc, with the long pale awn recurved ; petal-like scales ovate, acute; bristles 

 as long as the stalk of the obovate nut. — Var. hispida. (F. hispida, Ell.) 

 Leaves, sheaths, and iippcr portion of the culm bristly-hairy ; pctal-likc scales 

 acuminate; bristles nearly as long as the nut. — Swamps, Florida, and north- 

 ward. July - Sc'])t. U — Culms ^° - 2° high. Leaves 2' - 5' long. Terminal 

 cluster occasionally compound. 



7. ELEOCHARIS, E. Brown. Spike-Rush. 



Spikes many- (rarely 2-4-) flowered. Scales imbricated on all sides of the 

 rachis, or somewhat 2-ranked, the lowest usually empty, bract-like, and persistent. 

 Perianth of 3-8 bearded bristles, occasionally wanting. Stamens 1-3. Style 

 2- 3-cleft. Nut compressed, biconvex, or 3-angled, crowned with the persistent 

 jointed base of the style (tuberded). — Commonly perennials, with creeping 

 rootstocks. Culms jointless, leafless, sheathed at the base, bearing at the apex a 

 single spike. 



^ 1. ELEOCHARIS Proper. Spikes mamj-Jlowered : scales imbricated in several 



rows. 



* Splices cylmdricdl , scarcely thicker than the soft cellular culms : ivd biconvex, pitted 



or wrinkled in lone/itudinal lines. 



-t- Scales rounded, thick and faintly nerved : sli/le 3-cleft : bristles (i, sparinyly bearded 

 or smoothish, as long as the nut. (Limnoehloa, Nees.) 



1- E. equisetoides, Torr. Culms stout, terete, knotted by cross parti- 

 tions, rougliish ; scales pale, rouiid-jvate, obtuse or the upper acute, scarious on 



