SEDGE FAMILY. 275 
12. HEMICARPHA Nees & Arn, Edinb. New Phil. Journ. 17: 263. 1834. 
Low tufted mostly annual sedges, with crect or spreading, almost filiform culms and 
leaves, and terete small terminal capitate or solitary spikelets subtended by a 1-3-leaved in- 
volucre. Scales spirally imbricated all around, deciduous, all subtending perfect flowers. 
Perianth of a single hyaline sepal (bract?) between the flower and the rachis of the spike- 
let; bristles none. Stamens 1-3. Style 2-cleft, deciduous, not swollen at the base. Achene 
oblong, turgid or lenticular. (Greek, in allusion to the single sepal. ) 
About 3 species, natives of temperate and tropical regions. Besides the following, another 
occurs in the southwestern United States. The genus differs from Sc/7pus, with which it is united 
by some authors, mainly in the presence Of the perianth-scale. 
1. Hemicarpha micrantha (Vahl) 
Britton. Hemicarpha (Fig. 646.) 
Scirpus micranthus Vahl, Enum. 2: 254. 1806. 
Hemicarpha subsquarrosa Nees, in Mart. FI. Bras. 
2: Part 1, 61. 1842. 
Hemicarpha micrantha Britton, Bull. Torr. Club, 
I5: 104. 1888 
Annual, glabrous, culms densely tufted, com- 
pressed, grooved, diffuse or ascending, 1/-5/ 
long, mostly longer than the setaceous smooth 
leaves. Spikelets ovoid, many-flowered, ob- 
tuse, about 1/’ long, capitate in 2’s—4's or soli- 
tary; involucral leaves or one of them usually 
much exceeding the spikelets; scales brown, 
obovate, with a short blunt spreading or re- 
curved point; sepal inconspicuous; stamen 1; 
achene obovate-oblong, obtuse, mucronulate, 
little compressed, light brown, its surface min- 
utely cellular-reticulated. 
In moist, sandy soil, Rhode Island to Pennsylva- 
nia, Florida, Texas and Mexico. July—Sept. 
Hemicarpha micrantha aristulata Coville, Bull. 
Torr. Club, 21: 36. 1894. 
Scales pale, cuneate-oboyate, tapering into squar- 
rose awns about theirown length. Kansas to Texas. 
13. LIPOCARPHA R. Br. App. Tuckey Exp. Congo, 459. 1818. 
Low annual sedges, with slender tufted culms leafy at the base, and terete many-flow- 
ered spikelets in a terminal head, subtended by a 1-several-leaved involucre. Scales firm, 
spirally imbricatcd all around, all fertile or several of the lower ones empty, at length de- 
ciduous. Flowers perfect. Perianth of two small sepals (bracts?) one on each side of the 
flower; bristles none. Stamens 1-2. Style 2-3-cleft, deciduous, its base not swollen. 
Achene plano-convex or 3-angled. (Greek, alluding to the thick sepals in some species. ) 
About 7 species, widely distributed in warm and tropical regions. 
1. Lipocarpha maculata ( Michx. ) Torr. 
American Lipocarpha. (Fig. 647.) 
Kyllingia maculata Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 29. 
1803. 
Lipocarpha maculata Torr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. 3: 288. 
1836. 
Annual, glabrous, roots fibrous, culms tufted, 
grooved, compressed, smooth, longer than the 
narrowly linear somewhat channeled leaves, 3/— 
10’ tall. Leaves of the involucre 2-4, the larger 
1/-5/ long; spikelets ovoid-oblong, obtuse, 214//— 
3// long, 1’’ in diameter, 2-6 together in a termi- 
nal capitate cluster; scales rhombic or lanceo- 
late, acute at the apex, curved, the sides nearly 
white, or flecked with reddish-brown spots, the 
midyein green; exterior sepal convolute around 
the achene, nerved, hyaline; stamen 1; achene 
oblong, yellowish, contracted at the base. 
- In wet or moist soil, eastern Virginia to Florida. 
Also near Philadelphia, where it is probably adven- 
tive. July-Sept. 
