CYFERACE.E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 541 



cleft. Nut compressed, 3-angled. Culms jointless, leafy at the base. Spikes 

 in a terminal duster. Involucre leafy. 



1. L. maculata, Torr. Annual; culms clustered, terete ; leaves much 

 shorter than the culm, linear, concave, smooth; involucre 2-6-leaved, spread- 

 ing or recurved ; spikes small, ovate, 3 -9 in a cluster; scales spotted ; scales 

 of the perianth very thin, the nerves at length free aud hristle-like below ; 

 nut oblong, contracted into a short ueck. Springy or miry places, Florida 

 to North Carolina. July - Sept. Culms 4' - 8' high. Spikes 1" -2" long, 

 green. 



6. FUIRENA, Rottb. 



Spikes many-flowered. Scales imbricated in many rows, awned at the apex. 

 Perianth consisting of three petal-like stalked scales alternating with as many 

 bristles. Stamens 3. Style 3-cleft. Nut 3-angled, raised on a stalk, and 

 pointed with the persistent base of the style. Culms terete, jointed. Spikes 

 single or clustered, lateral and terminal. Scales hairy. 



1. F. SCirpoidea, Vahl. Rhizoma thick and creeping ; culms slender; 

 leaves reduced to pointed sheaths, smooth ; spikes 1 -3, terminal, ovate, sup- 

 ported by a small bract-like involucre ; scales obovate, 9-uerved, pointed with 

 a short erect awn ; stalks of the oval barely pointed petal-like scales longer 

 than the hispid bristles. Wet sandy places near the coast, Florida and 

 Georgia. May -Sept. "2J. Culms 1 high. 



2. F. longa, Chapm. Glabrous; culms weak, declining, 2 -4 long; 

 lower sheaths leafless, the upper short-leaved ; umbel terminal, sessile ; 

 spikes 2 -4 in a cluster, oblong-ovate; scales hairy, obovate, awned ; petal- 

 like scales ovate, barely longer than their stalks ; bristles slightly hispid ; 

 nut acutely triangular, pointed. Low pine barrens near the coast, West 

 Florida. 



3. F. squarrosa, Michx. Culms clustered, smooth, or pubescent near 

 the summit ; leaves flat, linear or linear-lanceolate, the margins, like the lower 

 sheaths, hairy ; spikes oblong, in lateral and terminal clusters; scales oblong- 

 obovate, with the long pale awn recurved ; petal-like scales ovate, acute ; 

 bristles as long as the stalk of the obovate nut. Var. HISPIDA. (F. hispida, 

 E/l.) Leaves, sheaths, and upper portion of the culm bristly-hairy ; petal-like 

 scales acuminate; bristles nearly as long as the nut. Swamps, Florida, and 

 northward. July -Sept. % Culms | - 2 high. Leaves 2' - 5' long. Ter- 

 minal cluster occasionally compound. 



7. ELEOCHARIS, R. Br. SPIKE RUSH. 



Spikes many- (rarely 2-4-) flowered. Scales imbricated on all sides of the 

 rachis, or somewhat 2-ranked, the lowest usually empty, bract-like, and per- 

 sistent. Perianth of 3 - 8 bearded bristles, occasionally wanting. Stamens 

 1-3. Style 2 -3-cleft. Nut compressed, biconvex, or 3-angled, crowned with 

 the persistent jointed base of the style (tubercled). Commonly perennials, 

 with creeping rootstocks. Culms jointless, leafless, sheathed at the base, 

 bearing at the apex a single spike. 



