206 



CYPERACEAE 



Fig. 27. SCHOENUS NIGRICANS L. 



a, cluster of spikelets, X 1; &, 

 achene, X 5. 



1. S. nigricans L. BLACK GAL.INGALE. (Fig. 

 27.) Perennial; stems 10 to 20 inches high, sur- 

 passing the erect rigid pungent leaves; heads 5 

 to 7 lines high, dark chestnut-color; spikelets 

 flattened ; bristles naked in our form ; achene 

 white. 



Alkaline soil, Southern California. Nevada, 

 Texas, Florida. Europe, Africa, Asia. 



Loes. Lone Pine Canon, Cajon Pass, Parish 2058; 

 Arrowhead Sprs., Geo. B. Grant; Furnace Creek, Death 

 Valley (ace. Contrib. U. P. Nat. Herb. 4:213). 



Eef. SCHOENUS NIGRICANS L. Sp. PI. 43 (1753), type 

 European. 





8. CLADIUM P. Br. SAW-GRASS. 



Very tall leafy perennials. Stems terete (in ours), from stout rootstocks. 

 Leaves much elongated, serrate on the margin and folded on the midrib so as 

 to be channeled above. Spikelets small, few-flowered, borne in terminal and 

 lateral compound panicles and consisting of several loosely imbricated scales; 

 lower scale empty, the middle one or two bearing staminate flowers, the upper 

 one usually perfect and fertile. Stamens in ours 2. Style 2 or 3-cleft, deciduous. 

 Achene ovoid or globose, without tubercle. Species 45, tropical and temperate 

 regions. (Diminutive of Greek klados, a branch, referring to the branched 

 inflorescence.) 



1. C. mariscus R. Br. Stems numerous, stout, 6 to 10 feet high, forming 

 very dense and heavy hummocks ; leaves 4 to 7 feet long, 4 to 5 lines broad ; 

 panicles diffuse, drooping, the lateral ones 4 to 8 in number, from the axils of 

 short sheathing leaves ; spikelets narrowly oblong, 2 lines long, in clusters of 

 2 or 3 ; achene brown, cylindric-ovate, 1 to l 1 ^ lines long. 



Moist ground, south bases San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains ; Inyo 

 Co. Southern Nevada. All continents. 



Locs. Upland (ace. Parish, Bot. Gaz. 65:335); Hanaupah Canon, Panamint Mts., Jepson 

 7002; Furnace Creek (aec. Coville, Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 4:213, 1893). 



Eefs. CLADIUM MARISCUS R. Br. Prodr. FL Nov. Holl. 1:236 (1810). C. mariscm var. 

 oalifornicum Wats. Bot. Cal. 2:224 (1880), type loe. San Gabriel, Brewer. 



9. RYNCHOSPORA Vahl. 



Chiefly perennials with erect more or less leafy and triangular stems from 

 rootstocks. Spikelets ovate, globular, or fusiform, variously clustered; scales 

 plane or a little concave, not keeled, the uppermost subtending imperfect flowers. 

 Perianth of 1 to 20 bristles. Stamens commonly 3 (in ours usually 2). Style 

 2-cleft. Achene lenticular or globular, crowned by the persistent base of the 

 style. Species about 189, tropics and subtropic regions of both hemispheres. 

 ( Greek rhyncos, snout, and spora, seed. ) 



1. R. alba Vahl. WHITE-BEAK RUSH. Perennial; stems almost filiform, y 2 

 to 2 feet high; leaves narrowly linear or almost bristle-like; spikelets disposed 

 in a head-like terminal corymb (and usually 1 or 2 lateral ones), white or whitish, 

 becoming tawny with age, perfecting only a single flower; bristles 9 to 12 (or 

 20) ; tubercle flattened, triangular-subulate, nearly as long as the achene. 



Bogs, North Coast Ranges, rare in California. North America, Europe, Asia. 



Loe. Mendocino Co., Congdon (ace. Fernald and MacBride). 



Refs. RYNCHOSPORA ALBA Vahl, Enum. PI. 2:236 (1806). Schoenus albus L. Sp. PI. 44 

 (1753), type north European. 



