496 CYPERACE-a:. (sedge family.) 



surmounted by a flattish cap-sltaped tubercle as large as itself. — "Wet sandy places, 

 Massachusetts, along the coast, to Virginia and southward. 



§ 2. ELEOCHARIS Proper. — Scales of the terete several -many -flowered spike 

 membranaceous, and ivith a midrib or nerve, imbricated in more than three ranks. 



# Achenium lenticular (smooth) : style 2-cleft, in No. 4 commonly 3-clef : spike dense, 



many-flowered: culms rather slender, spongy. (Eleogenus, Nees.) 



4. E. ©MMisa, Schultcs. Culms nearly terete, tufted (8' -14' high) from 

 fibrous roots; spike globose-ovoid and with age oblong, obtuse (dull brown); the 

 scales very obtuse and numerous (SO -130), densely crowded in many ranks ; style 3- 

 (rarely 2-) cleft ; achenium obovate, shining, tumid-margined, about half the 

 length of the 6 bristles, crowned with a short and very broad flattened tubercle. — ■ 

 Muddy places ; everywhere common. 



5. E. olivacca, Torr. Culms flattish, grooved, diffusely tufted on slen 

 der matted rootstocks (2' -4' high); spike ovate, acutish, 20 - 30-flowered ; scales 

 ovate, obtuse, rather loosely imbricated in many ranks (purple with a green mid- 

 rib and slightly scarious margins) ; achenium obovate, dull, abruptly beaked 

 with a narrow tubercle, about half the length of the 6-8 bristles. — Inundated 

 sandy soil, Massachusetts to New Jersey near the coast, and southward. 



6. E. paliistl'is, R. Brown. Culms nearly terete, striate (l°-2° high), 

 from running rootstocks ; spike oblong-lanceolate, pointed, many flowered ; scales 

 ovate-oblong, loosely imbricated in several ranks, reddish-brown with a broad and 

 translucent whitish margin and a greenish keel, the upper acutish, the lowest 

 rounded and often enlarged ; achenium obovate, somewhat shining, crowned 

 with a short ovate or ovate-triangular flattened tubercle, shorter than the usually 

 4 bristles. — Var. glaucescens (S. glaucescens, Willd.!) : culms slender or fili- 

 form ; tubercle narrower and acute, beak-like, sometimes half the length of the 

 achenium. — Var. calva (E. calva, Ton:): bristles wanting; tubercle short, 

 nearly as in the true E. palustris, but rather narrower (Watertown, New York, 

 Craice). — Very common, either in water, when it is pretty stout and tall ; or in 

 low grassy grounds, when it is slender and lower. (Eu.) 



# * Achenium triangular : style 3-clef : bristles sometimes few and fragile or alto- 



gether wanting. (Scirpidium, Nees, nearly.) 



+- Spike much broader than the filiform or slender cidm : scales imbricated in severai 



ranks, brownish or purplish with scarious ivhitisli margins, \-nerved. 



•h- Bristles 4-6, longer than the achenium, stout and bearded downward. 



7. E. B'OStelfc\tSl, Torr. Culms flattened and striate-grooved, wiry, erect 

 (1° -2° high), the sheath transversely truncate; spike ovoid-lanceolate, acute, 12- 

 20-ftowered; scales ovate, obtuse, rather rigid (light brown) ; achenium smooth, 

 obovate-triangular, narrowed into the confluent pyramidal tubercle, which is 

 overtopped by the 4-6 bristles. — Marshes, Rhode Island (Olney), Penn Yan, 

 New York (SartweU), and Michigan. — Allied to S. multicaulis of Eu. 



8. E. intea'SBiedia, Schultes. Culms capillary, wiry, striate-grooved, 

 densely tufted from fibrous roots, diffusely spreading or reclining (6' -12' long) ; 

 spike oblong-ovate, acutish, loosely \0-\8-flowered (2" -3" long); scales oblong, 

 obtuse, green-keeled, the sides purplish-brown ; achenium smooth, obovoid with 



