Scleria paucifiora Muhl.; Willd. Sp. Pl. 4: 318. 1805. 
Rootstocks thick, hard, clustered, culms slender, 
rather stiff, erect, usually tufted, glabrous or 
sparingly pubescent, 3-angled, 9’-2° tall. Leaves 
very narrowly linear, erect, less than 1/’ wide, the 
lower short, the upper elongated and often over- 
topping the culm, their sheaths often densely pu- 
berulent; spikelets in a small terminal cluster and 
sometimes also in I or 2 axillary short-stalked 
ones; bracts ciliate or glabrous; achene oblong or 
globular, %4’’ in diameter or rather more, crusta- 
ceous, papillose, the lower papillae elongated and 
reflexed; hypogynium a narrow obtusely triangu- 
lar border supporting 6 very small tubercles some- 
what approximate in pairs. 
In dry soil, New Hampshire to Ohio and Missouri, 
south to Floridaand Texas. Alsoin Cuba. June-Sept. 
SEDGE FAMILY. 
5. Scleria pauciflora Muhl. Papillose Nut-rush. 
(Fig. 666. ) 
) 17. ELYNA Schrad. 
6. Scleria verticillata Muhl. Low Nut-rush. (Fig. 667.) 
Scleria verticillata Muhl.; Willd. Sp. Pl. 4: 317. 
1805. 
UCB OE verticillatum Nees, Linnaea, 9: 303. 
1835. 
Annual (?) roots fibrous, culms very slender 
or filiform, 3-angled, smooth or nearly so, erect, 
4/-2° tall. Weaves very narrowly linear, 4//— 
4// wide, erect, shorter than the culm, the 
lower very short; sheaths sometimes pubescent; 
spikelets in several separated clusters, the in- 
florescence simple or sparingly branched; 
bracts bristle-like; scales glabrous; achene glo- 
bose, %’’ in diameter, crustaceous, usually 
tipped with the base of the style, marked by 
sharp distinct transverse ridges, or somewhat 
reticulated by additional longitudinal ridges ; 
hypogynium none. 
In moist meadows, eastern Massachusetts to On- 
tario and Michigan, south to Florida, Texas and 
Mexico, and in the West Indies. Plant, especially 
the roots, fragrant in drying. July—Sept. 
Fl. Germ. 1: 155. 1806. 
Low tufted arctic and mountain sedges, with erect slender mostly leafless culms, the 
narrowly linear leaves clustered at the base, and small 2-flowered spikelets in a narrow ter- 
minal cylindric spike. Scales of the spikelet 3 or 4, distinct, usually only one of them 
flower-bearing; the staminate flower of 3 stamens, the pistillate of a single pistil. Bristles 
or perianth wanting. Style slender, 3-cleft, not jointed to the oblong ovary. Achene 
obtusely 3-angled, sessile. [Greek, signifying covering, perhaps in allusion to the overlap- 
ping scales. ] 
Four or five species, the following occurring in the arctic and alpine regions of the northern 
hemisphere, the others in the mountains of Europe and Asia. 
