CYPERACEJE. (.SEDGE FAMILY.) 545 



cle ; bristles none. Margins of ponds and streams, Florida, and westward. 

 June -August. (T) Culms 3' -5' high. Spikes l"-2" long, the lower 

 scales deciduous as new flowers are developed. Nut black, smooth and 



shining. 



-i- -i- Culms terete or compressed, more or less spongy. 



20. E. capitata, H. Br. Culms tufted, nearly terete; spikes globose- 

 ovate, closely many-flowered ; scales chartaceous, oval, pale, or brown near 

 the rounded summit; nut black, smooth and shining, broadly obovate, bicon- 

 vex, rather shorter than the stout bristles ; tubercle white, depressed, apicu- 

 late. Low ground near the coast, Georgia, and westward. Culms 4' -6 

 high. Spikes 2" long. 



21. E. OChreata, Nees. Rhizoma slender, creeping ; culms compressed ; 

 spikes short, ovate, 4- 16-flowered; scales membranaceous, whitish, oblong, 

 obtuse, deciduous ; nut black and shining, broadly obovate, biconvex, tipped 

 with the short conical tubercle ; bristles 6, as long as the nut. Springy or 

 miry places, South Carolina, and westward. June -Sept. 2/ Culms l'-4' 

 high. Spikes \" - 2" long. Scales often brown when young. Nut very small. 



22. E. olivacea, Ton. Culms compressed, furrowed, diffuse ; spikes 

 ovate, acutish, many-flowered; scales ovate, obtuse, thin, purplish on the sides, 

 green on the keel, the margins white ; nut obovate, dull, dark olive ; tubercle 

 distinct, conical-beaked ; bristles 6-8, about as long as the nut. Wet sandy 

 places, Florida, and northward. August - Sept. Culms 2' - 5' long. Spikes 

 3" long, 20 -30-flowered. 



23. E. palustris, R. Br. Rhizoma creeping; culms slender, terete, 

 striate; spikes oblong-lanceolate, mostly acute, many-flowered; scales oblong, 

 membranaceous, brown on the sides, at length whitish, the upper ones acute ; 

 nut dull yellow, obovate, tumid, minutely dotted ; tubercle short, triangular- 

 ovate, compressed ; bristles 4, slender, commonly as long as the nut. Marshes 

 and wet places, Florida, and northward. June - Sept. 2/ Rhizoma black. 

 Culms 1- 3 long. Spikes 3"- 5" long. 



24. E. Obtusa, Schultes. Culms tufted, terete, thick and spongy ; spikes 

 ovate or oblong, obtuse, many-flowered ; scales thin, oblong, obtuse, commonly 

 brown on the sides, green on the keel, with broad and white margins ; style 

 2-3-cleft ; nut (light brown) obovate, lenticular, smooth and shining, scarcely 

 wider than the short compressed acute tubercle; bristles 6, rigid, twice the 

 length of the nut. (E. Engelmannii, Sleiidl., spikes cylindrical, 4" -6" long ; 

 bristles shorter.) Muddv margins of ponds and streams. Common and va- 

 riable. June - Sept. Culms 6' - 1 8' high. Spikes 2' - 4' long. 



25. E. COmpressa, Sulliv. Culms fla,t, from a creeping rootstock (1- 

 2 high) ; spikes ovate-oblong, many-flowered ; scales oblong, acute, dark pur- 

 ple, the margins white ; nut obovate, compressed, the small tubercle acute ; 

 bristles 1 -4, very slender, about the length of the nut, often wanting. Wet 

 places, mountains of Georgia, Tennessee, and northward. 



2. CHJETOCYPERUS. Spikes few-flowered, compressed: scales membrana- 



rcoiis, imbricated in 2-3 rows : style 3-cleft. Culms capillary. 

 26 E. aciCUlaris, R. Br. Culms (2' -12' high) angled; spikes ovate, 

 5-6-flowered acute; scales oblong, with reddish sides; nut oblong, white, 



35 



