CYPERACEAB 341 



Culm \% to 3 feet high, triangular. Leavet numerous, shorter than the culm ; 

 theathsnpen at throat. Umbels terminal and axillary, loosely cymose-panicled, 

 drooping; scales ferruginous, with a green centraUine, or keel, the apex pointed 

 and subsquarrose. Akene acuminate, minutely papillose, pale-brown ; hairs 5 or 

 6, very slender, and somewhat crisped, a little exserted from the scales. 

 Hob. Swamps ; near West-town School : rare. Fl. July. Fr. Aug. 



Obs. This was collected, in 1840, by Mr. JOSEPH WALTON. 

 8. S. Krioplioruni, MX. Spikelets ovoid, subsolitary on the 

 peduncles ; involucre of 4 or 5 long leaves ; hairs much longer than 

 the scales, curly and russet-colored. 

 WOOL-BEARING SCIRPUS. Brown Cotton-grass. 



Culm 3 to 5 feet high, obtusely triangular. Leaves about 2 feet long. Umbel 

 terminal, decompound, cjmose-panicled, the upper part drooping ; scales lance-ob- 

 long, membranaceous, the sides brown. Akene white; hairs 6, five to eight times 

 ae long as the akene, crisped and entangled, giving the spikelets a woolly appear- 

 ance. 

 Hab. Swamps, and wet places : frequent. FL July. Fr. August. 



462. ERIOPH'ORUM , L. 



[Gr. Erion, wool, or cotton, andp/iora, bearing ; from its cottony perigynium.J 

 Spikelets ovoid, mostly aggregated in a terminal head, or cymose 

 cluster of heads. Perigynium usually of numerous, soft, flat, elon- 

 gating hairs, much exceeding the scales, persistent, and becoming 

 a silky or cottony tuft, in fruit. Stamens mostly 3. Styles trifid, 

 and the akene trigonous. Perennials : culms generally leafy ; cottony 

 heads usually white (rarely russet). 



1. E. Yirgrinlcum, L. Culm sub-terete, rather rigid ; leaves 

 flat, elongated ; spikelets subsessile, in a dense cluster, or head ; 

 cotton russet-colored. 



VIRGINIAN ERIOPHORUM. Cotton-grass. 



Culms 2 to 3 or 4 feet high. Leaves 12 to 18 inches long, lance-linear. Involucre 

 generally of 2 narrow leaves, 4 to 6 inches in length, and 1 or 2 smaller ones, dis- 

 tinctly serrulate on the margins. Heads 3 or 4, cymose or subumbellate, on 

 short peduncles ; cottony hairs about 3 times as long as the scales. Stamens. 1. 

 Akene brown, trigonous-obovoid, acuminate. 

 Hob. Swamps, among the slaty hills : frequent. Fl. July. Fr. Sept. 



2. E. Cradle, Koch. Culms rather triangular, slender ; leaves 

 triquetrous, channelled, short; spikelets pedunculate, finally nod- 

 ding ; cotton white. 



E. angustifolium. Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 24. not of Roth. 

 SLENDER ERIOPHORUM. 



Culms 12 to 18 inches high. Radical leaves dying early ; those on the culm 1 to 

 8 inches in length. Involucre of 1 leaf, generally shorter than the spikelets. Spike- 

 lets 2 to 4 usually 3 on peduncles sometimes near an inch long ; cottony hairs % 

 an inch to % in length. Akene, linear-oblong. 

 Hob. Wet meadows ; northern parts of the county: frequent. Fl. May. Fr. June. 



DIVISION II. Perigynium (viz. bristles, or hairs) wholly wanting. 

 463. FIJI IIRIS'TYLIS, Vahl. 



[Latin, Fimbria, a fringe, and Stylus ; the style being often fringed.] 

 Spikelets ovoid, acute, in a small terminal cymose umbel. Stamens 

 1 to 3. Style 2- or 3-cleft, often ciliate, bulbous at base, the 



