JUNCACE^. (rush family.) 545 



many densely-flowered pale-green spherical heads, much longer than the invo- 

 lucral leaf, its branches erect and often elongated ; heads (3-4" wide) 15-40- 

 flowered; flowers l|-li"long; sepals rigid, awl-shaped and (especially the 

 outer) bristly pointed, at length pungent, as long as the stamens and nearlv 

 equalling the oblong-triangular taper-pointed 1-celled capsule; anthers very 

 small ; style elongated or very short ; seeds ovoid, abruptly pointed at eacli 

 end (^" long). — Wet sandy soil, Mass. to N. J. and S. C, west to Ind., Mo., 

 and Tex. 



Var. echlnatus, Engelm. Stouter; leaves terete; branches of the com 

 pact panicle short ; heads larger (5 - 6" wide), 40 - 80-flowered ; flowers If - 2" 

 long) ; sepals narrower and more sharply pointed, the outer a little longer 

 than the inner; stamens shorter and anthers longer than in the preceding, 

 and seeds rather smaller and more slender. — Md. to Fla. 



Var. polycephalus, Engelm. Much stouter ; leaves laterally flattened 

 (3-6'' wide); panicle spreading, branched, bearing many distant heads as 

 large as in the last ; flowers 2 - 2|" long ; the 3 outer sepals the longer ; an- 

 thers about as long as the filaments; seeds larger (^" long). — S. Va. to Fla., 

 west to Mo. and Tex. 



■n- ++ Stamens 6. 



25. J. nodbsus, L. Stem erect (6-15' or 2° high), slender from a creep- 

 ing thread-like and tuber-bearing rootstock, mostly with 2 or 3 slender leaves ; 

 heads few or several, rarely single, 8-20-flowered (3|-4" wide), overtopped 

 by the involucral leaf; flowers brown (lJ-2" long) ; sepals lance-linear, awl- 

 pointed (the 3 outer mostly a little shorter), nearly as long as the slender 

 triangular taper-pointed 1-celled capsule; anthers oblong, shorter than the 

 filaments ; style very short ; seeds (about |" long) obovate, abruptly mucro- 

 nate. — Swamps and gravelly banks, N. J. and Penn. to N. Ind. and Iowa, and 

 northward. — July, Aug. — Var. mkgacephalus, Torr. Stem stout (1-3° 

 high), with thick leaves; heads few and large (6-8" wide), 30- 80-flowered; 

 flowers pale green (2| -2|" long) ; outer sepals longest ; anthers linear, shorter 

 than the filaments. — Western N. Y. to Minn, and 'Mo., and westward. 



* * Seeds caudate. 

 •4- Stamens 3. 



26. J. Canadensis, J. Gay. Tufted stems erect, terete, smooth, bearing 

 2-3 leaves ; heads few- or many-flowered, paniculate ; sepals lanceolate, the 3 

 outer shorter than the inner, not much longer than the stamens, equal to or 

 shorter than the triangular-prismatic almost 1-celled usually short-pointed 

 capsule; style mostly short; seeds more or less distinctly tail-pointed, deli- 

 cately many ribbed. — Common almost everywhere. Aug., Sept. Easily dis- 

 tinguished by its late flowering from the similar n. 22. Very variable. 



Var. longicaud^tUS, Engelm. Stem stout and rigid (H-3° high), 

 bearing in a decompound somewhat spreading panicle the numerous 5 - 50- 

 flowered heads; flow£rs greenish or light brown (l|-2" long); sepals awl- 

 pointed, mostly shorter than the abruptly short-pointed capsule ; seeds slender 

 (|-1" long), conspicuously tail-pointed. — Maine to S. C, west to Minn, and 

 La. The most common form. 



Var. subcaudatus, Engelm. Stem slender, often decumbent (1-2° 

 high), bearing in simpler spreading panicles fewer 8 - 20-flowered heads ; 



