SEDGE FAMILY. 253 
13. Eleocharis tortilis (Link) Schultes. Twisted Spike-rush. (Fig. 589.) 
Scirpus tortilis Link, Jahrb. 3: 78. 1820. 
Eleocharis tortilis Schultes, Mant. 2: 92. 1824. 
Annual, roots fibrous, culms tufted, filiform, sharply 
3-angled, pale green, erect or reclining, twisting when 
old, 1°-114° long. Sheaths obliquely truncate, I- 
toothed; spikelet ovoid or oblong, subacute, several- 
flowered, 2’’-3/’ long, about 1’ thick, much thicker 
than the culm; scales firm, pale, ovate, mostly obtuse; 
bristles 4-6, rigid, retrorsely barbed, about equalling 
the achene and tubercle; stamens 3; style 3-cleft; 
achene obovoid, obscurely 3-angled, strongly reticu- 
lated, longitudinally about 18-ribbed; tubercle cap-like 
or conic, truncate at the base, one-fourth to one-half 
as long as the achene. 
In wet soil, Delaware to Florida and Texas, near the 
coast. July—Sept. 
14. Eleocharis tuberculosa (Michx.) R. & S. Large-tubercled Spike-rush. 
y (Fig. 590. ) 
/ ( Scirpus tuberculosus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 30. 1803. 
| Eleocharis tuberculosa R. & S. Syst. 2: 152. 1817. 
Annual, culms tufted, slightly compressed, very 
slender, rather stiff, striate, bright green, 8/—2° tall. 
Upper sheath obliquely truncate or 1I-toothed; spike- 
let ovoid, obtuse or subacute, many-flowered, 3//—-6’” 
long, nearly 2’’ in diameter; scales broadly ovate, ob- 
tuse, pale greenish-brown with a darker midvein, 
broadly scarious-margined, firm, tardily deciduous; 
bristles 6, rigid, downwardly or rarely upwardly 
barbed, about as long as the achene and tubercle; 
stamens 3; style 3-cleft; achene obovoid, pale, trigon- 
ous, strongly reticulated, longitudinally about 158- 
ribbed; tubercle cap-like or conic, nearly or quite as 
large as the achene. 
In wet soil, Massachusetts to Florida and Texas, near 
the coast. July—Sept. 
15. Eleocharis microcarpa Torr. Small-fruited Spike-rush. (Fig. 591.) 
eer microcarpa Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3: 312. ) 
Receharis Torreyana Boeckl. Linnaea, 36: 440. 1870. 
Annual, culms finely filiform, densely tufted, some- 
what 4-sided, erect or reclining, often proliferous by 
developing secondary culms in the axils of the spike- 
let, sometimes rooting at the summit, 2/-8’ long. 
Upper sheath obliquely truncate; spikelet oblong, 
subacute, terete or nearly so, much thicker than the 
culm, many-flowered, 114’/-214’’ long; scales ovate, 
acute, brownish-red with a green midvein and lighter 
margins, early deciduous except the lowest which is 
commonly larger than the others, persistent and 
bract-like; bristles 3-6, slender, shorter than or 
equalling the achene; stamens 3; style 3-cleft; achene 
white, 3-angled, obovoid, smooth, minute; tubercle 
conic-pyramidal, much shorter than the achene. 
In wet sandy soil, southern New Jersey to Florida and Texas, mostly near the coast. Also in 
Cuba, June-Aug. 
