521 
CYPERACEAE. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 
ner scale single behind the flower, very thin, finally often adhering 
to or wrapped around the oblong and flattish naked achenium. 
Perianth none. Stamen 1. Style 2-cleft. — Low tufted annuals ; 
the naked culms with bristle-like leaves at the base. (Name from 
Tjfu, half , and Kapfos, straw or chaff , in allusion to the single inner 
scalelet on one side of the flower.) 
1. H. subsquarrdsa, Nees. Dwarf (V -4' high) ; involu¬ 
cre 1-leaved, as if a continuation of the bristle-like culm, and usually 
with another minute leaf; spikes 2-3 (2" long) ; scales tipped with a 
short recurved point; inner scale small and narrow, finally adhering 
to the achenium. (Scirpus subsquarrosus, Muhl.) — Sandy borders of 
ponds and rivers, not rare, often growing with Cyperus inflexus. July. 
ELEOCHABIS, R. Brown. Spike-rush. 
Spike single, terminating the naked culm, many - several-flow¬ 
ered. Scales imbricated all round in many, rarely 2-3, ranks. 
Perianth of 3 — 12 (commonly 6) bristles, usually rough or barbed 
downwards, rarely obsolete. Stamens 3. Style 2-3-cleft, its 
bulbous base persistent as a tubercle, jointed with the apex of the 
lenticular or mostly obtusely triangular achenium. — Leafless, 
chiefly perennial, with tufted culms sheathed at the base, some of 
them often sterile, from matted or creeping rootstocks. (Name 
from cAor, a marshy and ^cupo), t0 delight in, being marsh plants.) 
§ 1. Limnochloa, Nees. — Scales of the dense and terete many-flow¬ 
ered spike papery-coriaceous and rounded , with a scarious margin, 
pale: style 2-cleft: achenium doubly convex , about equalling the 6 
bristles. (Eleocharis, § § 1, 2, 4, 5, Torr. Cyp.) 
* Culms large and stout , often thicker than the cylindrical spike: scales 
faintly many-striate, and densely imbricated so as usually to form (Jive) 
distinct spiral rows: sheaths at the base often nearly leaf-bearing. 
(Limnochloa proper.) 
1. E. equisetoides, Torr. Culm terete, knotted as if jointed 
by many cross partitions (2° high, thick as a goose quill) ; achenium 
smooth , crowned with a conical-beaked tubercle. — Shallow water, 
Rhode Island, Olney. Michigan, Houghton. Also from Delaware 
southward. Aug. —Spike IV or more long. 
2. E. quadrailgulata, R. Brown. Culm even, sharply 4- 
angled , 3 of the sides concave, the fourth wider and flat (2°-4° high); 
achenium finely reticulated, crowned with a conical flattened distinct 
tubercle.—Penn, and southward. Michigan, Dr. Crawe. August. 
* * Culms slender: spike ovate or oblong: scales with a midrib. 
3. E. tuberculosa, R. Brown. Culms striate (8'-12' high); 
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