JUNCACE^E. (RUSH FAMILY.) 495 



* * Leaves terete, knotted : stamens 6 . flowers clustered. 



Hi J. caudatUS, n. sp. Rigid throughout ; stem stout, from a thick and 

 creeping rhizoma ; leaves commonly 3, short and pungent ; panicle erect, com- 

 pound, mostly contracted : clusters numerous, more or less crowded, 2 - 4-flow- 

 ered ; sepals lanceolate, acute, unequal, the inner ones half as long as the oblong 

 obtuse-angled acute capsule ; seeds with a long and tail-like appendage at each 

 end, white and shining. Pine-barren swamps and bogs, Middle and West 

 Florida. Aug. and Sept. Stem 2 high. Leaves 2' - 6' long, strongly knotted. 

 Capsules light brown, turning almost black. 



* * * Leaves terete, obscurely knotted: stamens 6 : flowers solitary, in slender 1-sided 

 cymose panicles, often transformed into a tuft of rudimentary leaves. 



12. J. abortivus, n. sp. Rhizoma creeping, thick and woody; stems 

 slender (l-2 high), terete; leaves filiform, rather rigid; panicle compound, 

 diffuse, the branches almost hair-like ; flowers minute, scattered ; sepals oblong, 

 the inner ones obtuse, with membranaceous margins, as long as the (immature) 

 subulate capsule ; style slender. Grassy margins of ponds, near the coast, 

 West Florida. July - Sept. Plant deep green. Flowers all abortive or bud- 

 like. 



13. J. Conradi, Tuckerm. Rhizoma creeping, filiform; stems slender 

 (6' -10' high); leaves filiform, tender; panicle compound, diffuse; the small 

 flowers somewhat scattered ; sepals acutish, shorter than the oblong taper-pointed 

 capsule ; seeds without appendages. Sandy margins of ponds and swamps, 

 South Carolina, and northward. July. Leaves more slender, and the divis- 

 ions of the panicle shorter and more rigid than those of the preceding species. 



* * * * Leaves knotless, concave or flattened. 



14. J. marginatus, Rostk. Stems flattened (1- 2 high); leaves linear, 

 flat or concave ; panicle mostly simple ; heads few - many-flowered, rarely soli- 

 tary or by pairs ; flowers triandrous ; exterior sepals lanceolate or ovate-lance- 

 olate, awn-pointed ; the interior oblong, obtuse, broadly margined, about as long 

 as the globular dark brown capsule ; seeds oblong, acute at each end. ( J. aris- 

 tulatus, Michx. J. cylindricus, Curtis, the many-flowered heads cylindrical.) 

 Var. BIFLORUS. (J. biflorus, Ell.) Stems taller (2-3" high) : panicle decom- 

 pound, diffuse; heads very numerous, 2-4-flowered; seeds narrower and more 

 pointed. Ditches and low grounds, Florida, and northward. July - Sept. 

 The variety is confined to the pine barrens of the lower districts. 



15. J. bufonius, L. Annual; stems low (2'- 8' high), tufted; often 

 branched ; leaves very narrow ; panicles forking ; flowers solitary or 3 - 6 in a 

 cluster; sepals whitish, lanceolate, acute, longer than the oblong obtuse pale 

 capsule. Damp cultivated ground, apparently introduced. April and May. 



3. CEPHALOXYS, Desv. 



Flowers as in Juncus. Stamens 3. Capsule many-seeded, 3-celled, the par- 

 titions separating from the valves at maturity, and forming, with the united 

 placentae, a free 3-winged central column. Seeds ovoid, without appendages. 



