338 Nurtk Amaicdn Cypcrarecf. 



§ 2. Sjpikes numerous. 



5. Eriophorum Virginicum, Linn. 



Culm nearly terete below, obtusely triangular above; leaves 

 flat, very long ; spikes clustered, erect, nearly sessile ; invo- 

 lucre 2 — 3-leaved. 



E.. Virginicum, Linn. sp. 77; Willd. sj}. 313 ; Vahl, enum. 2. p. 390; 

 Roem. SfSchidl. syst. 2. p. 159; Sjjreng. syst. 1. p. 214; Walt.Jl. Car. 

 p. 71; Michx.! jl. 1. p. 31; Pursh, Ji. 1. p. 58; Elliott, sk. 1. p. 92; 

 Muhl.I gram. p. 49 ; Torr.! fl. 1. p. 66 ; Big. fl. Bost. ed. 2. p. 24 ; 

 Beck! bat. p. 437 ; Gray ! Gram. 8f Cyp. part 1. no 89 ; Darlingt.ft. 

 Cest. ed. 2. p. 23. 



E. spica compacta erecta, &c. Gron.fl. Virg. p. 132. 



Culm 2 — 4 feet high, leafy, smooths Leaves 10 — 18 inches long, 

 1 — 3 lines wide, scabrous on the margin, somewhat triangular at the 

 point; sheaths closely investing the culm. Involucre mostly of two un- 

 equal leaves, the longer 3 — 6 inches in length. Peduncles 3 — 4, short, 

 somewhat umbellate, each bearing several nearly sessile crowded spikes. 

 Spikes ovate, (when young acute,) about 3 lines long. Scales ovate, 

 acute, striate, the inferior ones empty, the sides pale ferruginous, the 

 keel green. Hairs 40 — 50 in each flower, of a reddish colour, in the 

 mature spike 3 times as long as the scale. Stamen solitary ; anther 

 oblong. Nitt oblong, triangular, compressed, attenuated downward, the 

 summit abruptl}' pointed. 



Hab. Swamps and bog meadows ; Hudson's Bay to Flo- 

 rida! and west to the Mississippi! — July — August. 



Obs. In shady situations this plant grows very slender, 

 with long narrow leaves, in which state it is the E.a?igustifoliicm, 

 Muhl.! gram. p. 48, but not of Roth and other botanists. The 

 erect subsessile spikes, monandrous flowers and reddish hairs of 

 this plant readily distinguish it from all the other North Ameri- 

 can species of Eriophorum. 



