202 



CYPERACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY) 



C. mariscoides. 



(0.4-1 m. high); leaves narrow (1-3 mm. wide), channeled 

 scarcely rough-margined; panicle 0.5-3 dm. long, 2-5 cm. 

 broad, of 2-4 uinbelliform cymes, the rays rigidly ascend- 

 ing; spikelets clustered in heads 3-10 

 together on few peduncles ; achene miter- 

 shaped, the truncate base slightly flaring. 

 Bogs and wet sandy shores, either 

 fresh or brackish, N. S. to (Jut., s. to 

 Fla., Ky., Ind., and la. Aug.-Oct. FIG. 

 328. 



2. C. jamaicSnse Crantz. (SAW 

 GRASS.) Tall (1-3 m.) and coarse ; 

 leaves broad (0.5-1 cm.), stiff and flat, 

 the margins and midrib beneath harshly 

 serrate; panicle 3-9 dm. long, the numerous rays bearing 

 abundant fascicled small chestnut-colored spikelets ; achene 

 obovoid, the truncate base not flaring. (C. effusum Torr.) 

 Shallow water, Va. to Fla. and Tex. (W. I.) FIG. 329. 329. C. jamaicense. 



16. SCLERIA Bergius. NUT RUSH 



Flowers monoecious ; the fertile spikelets 1-flowered, usually intermixed with 

 clusters of few-flowered staminate spikelets. Scales loosely imbricated, the 

 lower empty. Stamens 1-3. Style 3-cleft. Achene globular, stony, bony, or 

 enamel-like in texture. Perennials, with triangular leafy 

 culms, mostly from creeping rootstocks ; flowering in summer ; 

 all in low ground or swamps. Inflorescence, in our species, 

 of terminal and axillary clusters, the lower clusters usually 

 peduncled. (Name a-K\r)pia, hardness, from the indurated 



* Achene smooth. 



1. S. triglomerata Michx. Culm (0.5-1 m. high) and 

 broadly linear (3.5-9 mm. wide) leaves roughish; fascicles of 

 spikelets few, the lowest peduncled, the upper somewhat in 

 threes ; achene ovoid-globose or depressed, 2-3 mm. long, on 

 an obscure crustaceous disk. Low, usually 

 sandy soil, e. Mass, and Vt. (according to John 

 Torrey) to Ont., la., and southw. June- Aug. 

 FIG. 330. Var. GRACILIS Britton. Culms 

 slender (3-6 dm. long) ; leaves narrower ; 

 fascicles few-flowered, the lower (2-3-flowered) 

 iSO. S. triglomerata. on ver V Ion 9 fiW orm peduncles ; achene nar- 

 rower, 1-1.5 mm. long, acutish. (Var. minor 

 Britton.) N. Y. and N. J. 33, s 0%anth;i 



2. S. oligantha Michx. Culms slender, the angles somewhat 



winged ; leaves linear (3-5 mm. wide), smooth except the scabrous 

 apex ; lateral fascicles 1 or 2, usually on long exserted peduncles ; 

 achene ovoid, on a tuberculate disk. Woods, D. C. to Fla. and 

 Tex. May^Tuly. FIG. 331. 



* * Achene papillose, granulose or warty. 



3. S. pauciflbra Muhl. Smoothish or slightly hairy ; culm 

 slender (2-6 dm. high) ; leaves narrowly linear, 1-3 mm. broad ; 

 fascicles few-flowered, the lateral pedunculate, sessile, or want- 

 ing ; bracts ciliate ; achene globose, 1.5-2 mm. in diameter; the 

 disk a narrow ring bearing 3 pairs of distinct minute tubercles. 

 Barrens and dryish meadows, N. J. to O., s. to Fla. and Tex. 

 June-Aug. (W.I.) FIG. 332. 

 882. s. pauci- Var caroliniana (Willd.) Wood. Very slender; leaves, culms 

 flora. and scales very pubescent. Local, Mass., O., Ind., and southw. 



