3 o6 GLUMACE^E 



Spikelets I- or 2-flowered ; flowers i-sexual ; perianth none. 



9. Kobresia (Kobresia). Small herbs, with rigid, keeled, grass- 

 like leaves ; spikelets sessile in a terminal, compressed, ovoid spike, 

 with a glume-like bract under each spikelet ; upper flower in each 

 spikelet male, the lower female ; glumes 2 or 3, imbricate all round 

 the axis ; stamens 3 ; stigmas 3. (Named in compliment to Dr. 

 Kobres, a German patron of Botany.) 



Spikelets many-flowered flowers i-sexual ; perianth of male flower 

 none ; ovary enclosed in a persistent bottle-shaped sack or utricle. 



10. Carex (Sedge). A large genus of herbs with grass-like 

 leaves ; spikelets solitary, or several in a terminal spike, or the 

 lower distant, sessile or stalked, the whole sometimes forming a 

 dense compound spike or panicle ; stamens and pistils always in 

 separate glumes, either in the same or distinct spikelets, sometimes 

 confined to distinct plants (dioecious) ; glumes imbricated all round 

 the axis ; stamens 3 or rarely 2 ; style 2- or 3-branched ; nut com- 

 pressed or triangular, enclosed in a persistent sack or utricle. (Name 

 from the Greek kciro, I cut, because the leaves usually have sharp 

 edges.) 



1. Cyperus (Galingale) 



1. C. longus (Sweet Galingale). Stem stout, 1-4 feet high, with 

 a few leaves at the base which are usually shorter than the stem 

 and about 3, very unequal in length, around the large compound 

 umbel ; spikelets very numerous, linear, about incli long ; glumes 

 obtuse, bright chestnut, with a green keel ; style 3-branched. Wet 

 meadows in the south of England ; rare. Fl. August, September. 

 Perennial. 



2. C. juscus (Brown Cyperus). Much smaller than the pre- 

 ceding, often only a few inches high, with the clusters of spikelets 

 more compact ; spikelets flattened, obtuse, not more than J inch 

 long. Wet meadows in the south of England and the Channel 

 Islands ; rare. Fl. August, September. Annual. 



2. Eleocharis (Spike-Rush) 



1. E. palustris (Marsh Spike-Rush). Stems rather stiff, often 

 densely tufted, 3-12 inches high or more, all leafless and without 

 leafy tips ; spikelets solitary, terminal, oblong, - inch long ; 

 glumes brown, green on the midrib ; style 2-branched. Edges of 

 pools and wet ditches and in marshes ; frequent. Fl. June. 

 Perennial. 



2. E. uniglumis (Link's Spike-Rush). Differs chiefly from 

 E. paluslris in having the outermost bract broader, almost en- 

 closing the base of the spike. Wet, sandy places, usually near the 

 sea ; frequent. Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



