North American Cifpcracea. 299 



the exception of a few slight denticulations, most of them overtop- 

 ping the tubercle. Stamens 3 ; filaments long and slender. Style deeply 

 3-cleft. Nut covered with a thick cellular integument, tumid, pale 

 brown and shining, reticulated, and striated longitudinally. Tubercle 

 large, of a whitish colour, confluent with the nut, so as to appear blended 

 with it, of a spongy texture like the pericarp. 



Hab. Wet sandy marshes. Bay of St. Louis, Dr. 

 IngalJs ! 



Obs. For this rare plant I am indebted to my friend Dr. 

 Ingalls, who sent it to me under the name of Scirpus reticula- 

 tics ; but there is a S. rcticvlatiis of Lamarck, and as the genus 

 Eleocharis may possibly be hereafter restored to Scirpus, I 

 have not retained the specific name of Dr. Ingalls. In its 

 cylindrical spike and the structure of its scales, it resembles 

 the species of the preceding section ; but in its spongy whitish 

 tubercle, it is more nearly allied to the next group. The thick 

 cellular covering of the nut is its most remarkable character. 



<^ 3. Spike ovate or ohlong ; scales memhranaccons, (rarely coria^^ 

 ceons) very numerous, irregularly imbricated; style mostly 

 2-cleJl ; nut ohcvate, biconvex, smooth; tubercle somcivha^ 

 iwJerosc .-t-Eleocharis. 



4. Eleocharis palustris, R. Brown. 



Culm terete, striate, spongy; spike oblong-lanceolate ; scales 

 somewhat obtuse ; the two lowest large orbicular and empty j 

 bristles scabrous, longer than the nut ; style 2-cleft ; nut len- 

 ticular, smooth, (fulvous) ; tubercle conical, actite, distinct. 



Eleocharis palustris, jR. Brown, prodr. 1. p. 224. {in Obs.); Ram. 

 cy Schult. syst. 2. p. 153; N. ab Escnb. in WighVs contrib. p. 113, 

 Smith, Eng.fi. 1. p. 63. 



Scirpus palustris, Linn.; Willd. sp. 1. p. 291; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 54; 

 Elliott, sk. 1. p. 77; 3Iuhl. ! gram. p. 28; Torr. ! fl. 1. p. 45; Big.fl. 

 Best. ed. 2. p. 20; Beck '. bot. p. 425 ; Darlingt. ! fl. cest. ed. 2. p, 19, 



