376 North American CijiJeracece. 



to the base. Nut exactly globose, whitish, dull ; the surface strongly 

 reticulated ; the interstices oblong and deeply pitted. Perigynium con- 

 spicuous and resembling a calyx, of a pale greenish colour, equally 3- 

 lobed, closely appressed, and partly adnate ; the lobes rather acute. 



Hab. South Carolina, Mlchaux ; Middle Florida, Dr. 

 Chapman ! 



Obs. This plant, which seems to be nearly related to S. 

 tesscUata, Willd. agrees so minutely with Michaux's S. reticu- 

 laris, with the exception of the roughness on the lower part 

 of the culm, that I have no doubt of its identity with that 

 species. It is the only N. American Scleria in which I have 

 found the nut truly reticulated. The species described under 

 the same name by Muhlenberg and others is my S. laxa, a very 

 distinct plant. 



2. Scleria laxa. 



Culm weak, diffuse, nearly smooth ; fascicles lateral and 

 terminal, very remote, on long slender peduncles, somewhat 

 branched, loosely flowered ; scales and bracts smooth ; nut 

 globose, pitted, and marked in a somewhat spiral manner 

 with transverse hairy rugae ; perigynium 3-lobed ; the lobes 

 ovate, appressed. 



S. reticularis Muhl. ! gram. p. 26G ; Pursh .' Ji. 1. p. 45 ; Elliott., sk. 

 2. p. 601 ? ; Gray! Gram. Sf Cyp. part 1. no. 99. 



Culm 12 — 18 inches high, slender, acutely triangular, with the angles 

 somewhat winged and slightly scabrous. Leaves 2 lines broad, flat, 

 smooth. Fascicles usually 3, one of which is terminal, the others lateral 

 and very remote. Peduncles 2 — 6 inches long, compressed, slender, 

 and often recurved. Spikclets distant, in pairs, disposed as in the pre- 

 ceding species. Stamens 2. Nut about a line in diameter, whitish, 

 with narrow, brown wrinkles, which are more or less hairy, pitted in an 

 obscurely reticulate manner. Perigynium deeply 3-lobed ; the lobes 

 rather acute » 



