282 CYPERACEAE. 
2. Scleria triglomerata Michx. ‘Tall Nut-rush. (Fig. 663. ) 
Scleria triglomerata Michx. F1. Bor. Am, 2: 168. 1803. 
Rootstocks hard, short, clustered, culms 3- 
angled, slender or rather stout, erect or ascending, 
rough or nearly smooth on the angles, 114°-—3° tall. 
Leaves flat, smooth or slightly rough-margined, 
glabrous or nearly so, 114//-2'4’’ wide, the lower 
short, acute, the upper tapering toa long tip, rarely 
exceeding the culm; flower-clusters terminal, and 
usually also 1 or 2 smaller ones from the axils; 
bracts glabrous or slightly ciliate; achene ovoid or 
ovoid globose, obtuse but somewhat pointed, bony, 
obscurely 3-angled, smooth, bright white, shining, 
about 1’’ high, supported on a low obtuscely trian- 
gular, papillose-crustaceous hypogynium. 
In meadows and thickets, Vermont to Wisconsin, 
south to Florida and Texas. July-Sept. 
Scleria triglomerata minor Britton. 
Scleria triglomerata var. gracilis Britton, Ann. N. Y. 
Acad. Sci. 3: 230. 1885. Not.S. gracilis Ell. 1824. 
Culms very slender, 1°-2° long; flower clusters smaller; achene ovoid, subacute, one-half as 
large as that of the type. Southern New Jersey. i 
3. Scleria reticularis Michx. Reticulated 
Nut-rush. (Fig. 664.) 
Scleria reticularis Michx. F1. Bor. Am. 2: 167. 1803. 
Rootstocks small, culms very slender, erect, 3- 
angled, 1°-2%° tall. Leaves narrowly linear, smooth, 
glabrous or nearly so, 1/’-11%4’’ wide, not overtopping 
the culm; spikelets in a terminal cluster and 1-3 re- 
mote short-stalked axillary rather loose ones; bracts 
glabrous; achene globose, crustaceous, dull white 
when mature, reticulated by longitudinal and trans- 
verse ridges, 14’ in diameter, glabrous; hypogynium 
3-lobed, its lobes appressed to the base of the achene. 
In moist meadows, eastern Massachusetts to Florida, 
west to Missouri. Alsoin Cuba. July—Sept. 
i 
n | 
Scleria reticularis pubéscens Britton, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 
3: 232. 1885. 
Reticulations on the achene pubescent; lateral clusters 
usually longer stalked. New Jersey to Florida and Cuba. 
Scleria reticularis obscura Britton, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 3: 232. 1885. 
Reticulations very obscure, the top of the achene almost smooth. Rhode Island to North Carolina. 
‘ 
4. Scleria Torreyana Walp. ‘Torrey’s Nut-rush. (Fig. 665.) 
= Scleria Torreyana Walp. Ann, 3: 696. 1852-53. 
Scleria laxa Torr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. 3: 376. 1836. Not 
R. Br. 1810. 
Culms weak but rather thick, spreading or dif- 
fuse, 3-angled, nearly or quite smooth, 1°-2'4° long. 
Leaves linear, nearly flat, smooth, glabrous, 14’/-4’’ 
wide, not exceeding the culm; spikelets in a loose 
terminal cluster, and 1-3 filiform-stalked smaller ax- 
illary ones; bracts glabrous; achene globose, some- 
what pointed, nearly 1’’ in diameter, irregularly ru- 
gose with low ridges somewhat spirally arranged, the 
ridges usually pubescent, and connected by shorter 
longitudinal ones, the surface thus indistinctly reticu- 
lated; hypogynium 3-lobed, the lobes appressed to 
the base of the achene. 
In moist soil, southern New Jersey to Florida, Texas 
and Mexico. Alsoin Cuba. Forms of this species with 
obscurely reticulate achenes and narrow leaves are with 
difficulty separated from the preceding. June-Aug. 
