JUNCACE^E 683 



leafy, from slender rootstocks : leaves terete, deeply channelled at base : 

 spathe longer than the inflorescence : heads 1-3, 3^12-flowered : perianth- 

 segments brown or black, 2-4 lines long, lanceolate, acute : anthers pointed, 

 half as long as the filaments: capsule brown, longer than the perianth, 

 narrowly oblong, tapering to an acute summit, imperfectly 3-celled : seeds 

 with long slender tails, the body about % line long. Oregon to Alaska 

 and across the Continent. 



* * Stems leafy at base : leaves fiat or semiterete, not knotted : 

 panicle or head evidently terminal : the spathe usually short. 



*- Dwarf or low slender annuals with fibrous roots : stems leafy, 

 branched. 



J. bufonius L. Sp. 328. Stems usually branching from the base, 1-12 

 inches high : leaves very narrow, usually revolute and bristle-like : flowers 

 greenish, mostly remote and secund upon the spreading branches : perianth- 

 segments lanceolate, acuminate, with scarious margins, 2-3 lines long, the 

 inner slightly shorter : stamens 6; anthers about as long as the filaments : 

 capsule oblong, obtuse, shorter than the perianth : seeds ovate, obtuse, 

 very finely striate and cross-lined. A common species everywhere, grow- 

 ing in places that are wet in spring. 



J. triformis Engelm. 1. c. 492. Stem very short or almost none, 

 bearing several erect filiform scape-like peduncles 1-3 inches long : leaves 

 an inch long or less, filiform, channelled, flat above: flowers usually 3-7, 

 in a small head: perianth brownish, its segments narrowly lanceolate, 

 acuminate, 1-1 K lines long, a little longer than the 3 stamens and the 

 obtuse apiculate capsule: style exserted, with elongated stigmas : seeds 

 ovate, obtuse, finely ribbed and cross-lined. In barren places that are wet 

 in spring, western Oregon to California. 



Var. brachystylus Engelm. 1. c. Smaller, the peduncles 1-3-flow- 

 ered : stamens half the length of the perianth ; the oblong anthers shorter 

 thanjthe filaments : style and stigmas short, included. With the type. 



Var. u n ill or us Engelm. 1. c. Very small, only half to an inch high, 

 the solitary flowers mostly dimerous. Oregon to California. 



*- *- Taller perennials : stems simple : stamens 6. 

 * Stems naked : flowers solitary in a diffuse or compact panicle, 



J. tennis Willd. Sp. PI. 214. Stems slender, erect, 1-2 feet high, 

 leafy at base : leaves very narrow, flat or more or fess channelled or invo- 

 lute, shorter than the stem : spathe exceeding the inflorescence : panicle 

 usually loose and spreading : perianth-segments pale, narrowly lanceolate, 

 acuminate, l>-2 lines long, spreading in fruit and equalling or exceeding 

 the ovate retuse greenish capsule : seeds white-appendaged at each end, 

 very finely ribbed and cross-lined. In dry or moist soile, throughout most 

 parts of North America. 



J. occidentals Weigand Bull.*Torr. Bot. Club xxvii, 521. /. tennis 

 tar. congestus Engelm. Stems stiff and erect, 1-2 feet high, pale green, 

 nearly terete ; leaves H~^ the length of the stem, flat and flexuous : 

 spathe 2-3 inches long, exceeding the inflorescence : panicle glomerate, or 

 more commonly somewhat open, fuscous : perianth-segments broadly subu- 

 late, fuscous with green midrib and rather broad scarious margins : stamens 

 about half as long as the perianth, the oblong anthers much shorter than 

 the filaments: capbule oblong-ovoid, f obtuse or retuse. % as long as the 

 perianth, fuscous, the placentae extending onlj r about half-way to the axis : 

 seeds oblong, irregularly apiculate at each end areolate-reticulated, not 

 striate. Along ditches and in wet places, Oregon to California. 



J. confnsus Coville Proc. Biol. Soc. of Wash. x. 127. Densely tuft- 



