578 CYPERACE^E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



ijlaucous, sometimes hairy; spikelets ovate, acute (3" long) ; stamen 1 ; achene 

 conspicuously 6 - 8-ribbed on each side, and with finer cross-lines. Low ground, 

 Penn. to Ha., west to 111. and La. July - Sept. 



* * Style 3-clefl and achene triangular; tubercle soon deciduous; spikelets 



smaller and fewer-flowered. 



3. F. autumnalis, Roem. & Schult. (PI. 3, fig. 6-9.) Annual (3- 

 16' high), in tufts; culms flat, slender, diffuse or erect; leaves flat, acute; 

 umbel compound; spikelets oblong, acute (1-2" long), single or 2-3 in a 

 cluster; scales ovate-lanceolate, mucronate; stamens 1-3. Low grounds, 

 Maine to Fla., west to 111. and La. 



* * * Style 3-clcft, filiform and not dilate; achene acutely triangular; tubercle 



more or less persistent. 



4. F. capillaris, Gray. Low annual, densely tufted (3-9' high) ; culm 

 and leaves nearly capillary, the latter short; umbel compound or panicled; 

 spikelets (2" long) ovoid-oblong; stamens 2; achene minutely wrinkled, very 

 obtuse. Sandy fields, N. Eug. to Fla., west to Minn., Tex., and the Pacific. 



F. VAHLII, Link (F. congesta, Torr.), a diminutive southern species, with 

 long filiform leaves, sessile capitate spikelets, narrow acuminate scales, and 

 the style 2-cleft and not ciliate, has been found in ballast-sand along the north- 

 ern coast. 



8. SCIRPUS, Tourn. BULRUSH or CLUB-RUSH. (PL 3.) 



Spikelets several -many-flowered, solitary or in a terminal cluster which is 

 subtended by a 1 -several-leaved involucre (this when simple often appearing 

 like a continuation of the culm), terete, the scales being regularly imbricated 

 all round in manv or several ranks, or rarely somewhat compressed and the 

 fewer scales inclining to be 2-ranked. Flowers to all the scales, or to all but 

 one or two of the lowest, all perfect. Perianth of 3 - 6 mostly retrorsely barbed 

 or ciliate bristles (not elongated), or sometimes wanting. Stamens mostly 3. 

 Style 2-3 cleft, simple, not bulbous at base, wholly deciduous, or sometimes 

 leaving a tip or point to the lenticular or triangular achene. Culms sheathed 

 at base; the sheaths usually leaf-bearing. Mostly perennials; flowering in 

 summer. (The Latin name of the Bulrush.) 

 * Spikelets solitary, few-fiowered, small, often. flatfish ; achene triangular, smooth. 



-i- Involucre a short au'l-shaped bract; culms tiif/ed (3-12' high), filiform. 



1. S. C8BSpit6sus, L. Culms terete, wiry, densely sheathed at base, in 

 compact turfy tufts ; the upper sheath bearing a very short au-l-shaped leaf; 

 spikelet ovoid, rusty-color ; involucral bract a rigid-pointed scale, resembling 

 the lowest proper scale of the spikelet and scarcely surpassing it; bristles 6, 

 smooth, longer than the abruptly short-pointed achene. Coast of Maine, al- 

 pine summits of N. Eug., swamps of northern N. Y., N. 111., Minn., and north- 

 ward; also on Roan Mt., N. C. (Eu.) 



2. S. Clintonii, Gray. Culms acutely triangular, almost bristle-like ; 

 sheaths at the base bearing a very slender almost bristle-shaped leaf shorter 

 (usually very much shorter) than the culm ; involucral bract awl-shaped, mostly 

 shorter than the chestnut-colored ovate spikelet, which has pointless scales ; 

 otherwise as the next. Rather dry plains, N. Y. June. 



