CYPERACEAB 339 



4. E. aclcul&ris, R. Brown. Culm setaceously slender, 4- 

 angled; spikelet ovoid-oblong, few-flowered; akene many-ribbed, 

 and transversely striate ; bristles 3 or 4, or wanting. 

 Scirpus acicularis. L. $ Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 20. 

 NEEDLE-LIKE ELEOCHARIS. 



Culms 2or3to6or8 inches high, bristle-like, glabrous, purple at base, and 

 closely embraced by a truncate obtuse sheath. Spikelet often perfecting but 1 or 2 

 akenes ; scales ovate-oblong, greenish with purple sides. Akene obovoid, yellowish ; 

 tubercle conical-triangular. 

 Hah. Margins of ponds, and miry places : not common. Fl. July. Fr. Aug. 



Obs. If I am not mistaken, the bristles are sometimes longer than 

 the akene. 



461. SCIR'PUS, L. 



["The ancient Latin name of the Bull-rush.] 



Spikelets sometimes single, more commonly numerous and clustered, 

 or cymose-paniculate, lateral, or terminal. Perigynium of 3 to 6 rigid 

 rough bristles, or 6 slender smooth wavy or curly hairs. Styles 2- 

 or 3-cleft, not bulbous at base. Akene sometimes mucronate with 

 the slender base of the style. Chiefly perennials : culm triangular, 

 or terete, naked, or leafy; spikelets green, or brown, solitary, 

 clustered, or corymbose. 



gl. SCIRPUS proper: Perigynium of rigid mostly retrorsdy hispid, or pubescent 

 bristles. 



a. Spikelets single and terminal; style trifid, and akene triquetrous; culm leafy at 



base, triangular. 



1. S. pi ail if olillS, Muhl. Culms loosely cespitose ; leaves linear, 

 flat and grass-like, equalling the culm ; bristles 4 to 6, antrorsely 

 hispid. 



FLAT-LEAVED SCIRPUS. 



Culms 6 to 12 inches long, finely serrulate on the angles. leaves subradical, 

 the lower ones short, broader and mucronate. Spikdet about 6-flowered ; scales 

 yellowish, with green keels and points, the 2 lowest longish and bract-like. 

 Akene triquetrous, reddish-brown. 

 Hob. Rich, moist woodlands : frequent. Fl. May. Fr. July. 



b. Spikelets numerous, subterminal, or lateral ; culm scarcely nodose above, and 



tfierefore naked, a few leaf-bearing sheaths below. 



4=- Style bifid, and akene planoconvex. * Culm triangular. 



2. S. pu listens, Vahl. Culm with 2 concave sides ; spikelets 1 

 to 5 or 6, ovoid, in a dense sessile cluster ; akene longer than the 

 bristles. 



S. triqueter, MX. $ FL Cestr. ed. 2. p. 593. not of Linn. 

 SHARP-POINTED SCIRPUS. Chair-maker's Rush. 



Cidms 2 to 4 or 5 feet high, cuspidate at summit, naked and smooth, sheathed at 

 base, the sheaths often bearing a few short leaves. Scales of the spikelets orbicu- 

 lar-ovate, often emarginate and mucronate, russet-brown on the sides. Akene 

 dark brown, smooth; bristles 3 to 6, retrorsely scabrous, brittle. 

 Hub. Margin of the Schuylkill : rare. Fl. July. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This is the plant generally used, in the U. States, in making 

 the seats of rush-bottomed chairs. It grows abundantly along 

 brackish tide-water ; but is rare, and of smaller size, in this County. 



