542 cYPERACE.t;. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



1. ELEOCHARIS proper. Spikes many-flowered : scales imbricated in sev- 

 eral rows. 



* Spikes cylindrical, scarcely thicker than the soft cellular culms: nut biconvex, 



pitted or wrinkled in longitudinal lines. 



i- Scales rounded, thick and faintly nerved: style 3-clefl: bristles 6, sparingly 

 bearded or smoothish, as long as the nut. (Limnochloa, Nees.) 



1. E. equisetoides, Torr. Culms stout, terete, knotted by cross parti- 

 tions, roughish ; scales pale, round-ovate, obtuse or the upper acute, scarious 

 on the margins ; bristles hispid ; nut pale brown, obscurely wrinkled, shining, 

 crowned with a sessile conical-beaked acute tubercle. (Scirpus equisetoides, 

 Ell.) Ponds, Florida, and northward. July -Sept. ^ Culms l-2 

 high, 3" in diameter. Sheaths brown. Spikes 1' long. 



2. E. quadrangulata, R. Br. Culms unequally 4-sided, with the angles 

 acute ; scales pale, roundish, very obtuse, scarious on the margins ; bristles 

 slender, bearded, unequal; nut broadly obovate, finely pitted, dull white, 

 tubercle ovate or conical, free around the base, much shorter than the nut. 

 Ponds and ditches, Florida, and northward. July - Sept. 2/ Culm 2- 

 3 high, l"-2" in diameter. Sheaths purplish. Spikes 1' long. 



3. E. CGllulosa, Torr. Culms obscurely 3-angled below, terete above ; 

 scales pale brown, rouud-obovate, white and scarious on the margins ; bristles 

 rather rigid, nearly or quite smooth ; nut oblong-obovate, conspicuously pitted, 

 narrowed into the conical (at length flattened) tubercle. Marshes, Florida, 

 and westward, near the coast. August Sept. 11 Rootstocks creeping, 

 slender. Culms l-2 high, H" in diameter. Upper sheath elongated. 

 Spikes V - 1' long, spirally twisted. 



i- - Scales oblong, nerved on the back, thin on the margins : style 2 - 3-c/eft 

 bristles 7, strongly bearded, longer than the nut. 



4. E. Robbinsii, Oakes. Culms erect, rather slender, acutely 3-angled, 

 intermixed with hair-like abortive ones ; spike 6 - 8-flowered. acute ; scales 

 greenish, obtuse, rather distant on the flattened rachis, closely imbricated ; 

 style 2-cleft ; bristles unequal, as long as the nut and tubercle ; nut (1" long) 

 deeply pitted in lines, scarcely shorter than the subulate tubercle. Shallow 

 ponds, near Quincy, Florida, and northward. August. Rhizoma filiform. 

 Culms 6'- 12' high. Spikes |' long. 



5. E. elongata, Chapm. Culms floating, slender, terete, mingled with 

 hair-like abortive ones ; spike 12-20-flowered, acute ; scales rather distant on 

 the compressed rachis, oblong-ovate, obtuse, green on the back, dark brown 

 on the sides ; style 3-parted ; bristles rather longer than the obovate biconvex 

 or somewhat 3-angled faintly pitted nut ; tubercle minute. In still water, 

 Florida. July. ^J Rootstocks filiform. Culms 2 -3 long, all but the 

 summit immersed. Spikes 6" - 9" long. Nut \" long. 



* * Spikes thicker (him the culm : sti/le 3-clefl : nut 3-annlcd. 

 *- Bristles 6, as long as the nut and tubercle : nut longitudinally furrowed and 



pitted. 



6. E. tuberculosa, 11. Br. Culms somewhat compressed, tough and 

 wiry ; spikes pale, ovate or oblong, acute ; scales oblong, rigid, 1 -nerved ; nut 



