394 CYPERACEvE. 



slender, mostly longer than the ovoid acutely triangular achenium ; tubercle 

 very minute or almost wanting. Scirpus pusillus Pursh, not of Vakl. 



Salt marshes. N. Y. and N. J. July, Aug. %. Culm 1 2 inches high, 

 often destitute of spikes. Spikes 3 8-flowered, only 1 or 2 flowers perfect. 

 Bristles sometimes wanting. Dwarf Spike Rush. 



13. E. microcarpa, var. filiculmis Torr. : culms cespitose, capillary or 

 filiform, quadrangular, wiry ; spikes oblong ; bristles nearly as long as the 

 obovate-oblong achenium ; tubercle very minute, closely sessile. 



Wet places in the Pine Barrens of N. J. %.. Culms 3 4 inches high, not 

 thicker than a hair. Spike about 2 lines long. Scales dark chestnut color. 



Wiry-stalkpd Spike Rush. 



6. SCIRPUS. Linn. Club Rush. 

 (An ancient Latin name for the Bulrush, which belongs to this genus.) 



Spikes many-flowered, the scales imbricate on all sides. 

 Bristles 3 6, rigid, persistent. Style 2 3-cleft, simple at 

 base, deciduous. Achenium biconvex or triangular* 



* Spike solitary, terminal. 



1. S. caspitosus Linn. : culms cespitose, filiform, terete; the sheaths with 

 rudiments of leaves ; spike ovoid, few-flowered ; the two lowest scales 

 bract-like, as long as the spike ; bristles smooth ; style 3-cleft ; achenium 

 obtusely triangular. 



Wet places. White Hills, N. H. Biff. High mountains of Essex county, 

 N. Y. Torr. N. to Arct. Amer. W. to the Rocky Mountains. July. %. 

 Culm 2 10 inches high, rather rigid, finely striate, with imbricate sheaths at 

 base. Spike 4 5-flowered, a little compressed. Scales yellowish-brown. 



Scaly-stalked Club Rush. 



2. S. planifoliv.s Muhl. : culm triangular ; leaves linear, flat, about as 

 long as the culm ; spike oblong, compressed ; scales carinate, cuspidate, 

 the lowest one longer than tffe spike ; achenium triangular. 



Wet grounds. N. Y. and Mass, to Del. June. ( i|.. Culms 612 inches 

 long, cespitose, rough on the angles. Leaves subradical, grass-like, rough ort 

 the margin. Scales yellowish, with a green keel. Bristles 4 6, nearly as long 

 as the achenium. Flat-leaved Club Rush. 



3. S. sublenninalis Torr. : culm floating, sulcate, leafy at the base ; 

 spike oblong-lanceolate, shorter than the bract at the base ; scales ovate- 

 lanceolate ; style 3-cleft ; achenium triangular. 



Slow flowing streams. N. Y. Mass, and N. J. W. to the Rocky Mountains. 

 Aug. 1\.. Culm 3 feet long, growing under water. Leaves long, filiform, 

 channelled. Spike emersed, with a narrow bract at base. Bristles 6, rigid, 

 nearly as long as the achenium. Floating Club Rush. 



** Culm many-spiked. 

 f Spikes lateral. 



4. & dcbilis Pursh. : culm terete, with a few subulate leaves at base, 

 striate ; spikes 3 5, ovoid, closely sessile, below the top of the culm ; scales 

 broad-ovate, obtuse, mucronulate ; style 2 3-cleft ; achenium plano-convex, 

 toroad-obovate. 



