ISOLEFIS.] CYPERACE^E. 401 



Spikelets J-J in., narrow-ovoid, pale. Glumes 4-8, oblong. Stigmas 2. 

 Fruit plano-convex, pale, smooth, tipped with the base of the style. 

 DISTRIB. Europe from Gothland southwards, Azores. 



4. I. Holoscboe'nus, R. and S.; stem tall terete stout, leaves few erect 

 subulate rigid channelled, spikelets in compact globose cymose heads, fruit 

 subglobose mucronate transversely wrinkled. 



Sandy sea-coasts, N. Devon ; fl. Sept. Rootstock creeping, stout. Stems 2-3 ft. , 

 as thick as a crowquill, tufted at the base, margins of sheaths united by 

 reticulate fibres. Leaves on the upper sheaths only, shorter than the stem, 

 - terete, margins rough. Heads -| in. diam., upper subse -ssile ; branches 

 of cyme 1-3 in., ^-terete, very stout. Spikelets minute. Glumes obovate, 

 notched, mucronate, ciliate. Stigmas 3. DISTRIB. Europe from France 

 and Spain southwards and eastwards, N. Africa, Siberia. Habit of Sctrpus. 



3. ELEOCH'ARIS, Br. 



Tufted, erect, usually perennial leafless glabrous herbs. Stems slender, 

 sheathed at the base. Spikelets solitary, terminal, erect, terete angled 

 or compressed. Glumes many, imbricate all round the rachis ; lower 

 1-2, if any, flowerless. Flowers 2-sexual. Bristles 3-6, not longer than 

 the glumes. Stamens 3. Style deciduous, articulate with the top of the 

 fruit, stigmas 3. Fruit compressed or 3-gonous. DISTRIB. All climates, 

 especially temp. ; species about 50. ETYM. eA.oj andxaip^ fr m delighting 

 in marshes. 



* Fruit with a tumid top. 



1. E. palus'tris, Br. ; rootstock stout creeping branched with many 

 tufts of leaves and stems, lowest glume broadest, bristles 4-6, fruit com- 

 pressed, stigmas 2. 



Marshes, lake borders and ditches ; ascending to 1,200 ft. in Yorkshire ; fl. 



June-July. Rootstock elongate, black. Stems 6-18 in., stout or slender, 



slightly compressed. Sheaths 2, brown, truncate, leafless. Spike | \ in., 



terete, narrow-ovoid, red-brown. Glumes lanceolate, subacute ; lowest much 



shortest, broadest, obtuse and embracing the base of the spike. Fruit 



compressed, obovate, striate, tumid, top triangular compressed. DISTRIB. 



Europe (Arctic), N. Africa, N. Asia, N. India, N. America, 



VAR. 1, palus'tris proper ; glumes dark, keel green, edges pale, lowest suborbi- 



cular half-embracing the base of the spikelet, fruit faintly striate. VAR. 2, 



' 



iglu'mis, Link (sp.) ; glumes brown, edges narrow pale, lowest ovate 

 amost embracing the base of the spikelet. VAR. 3, Watso'ni, Bab. (sp.) 

 short, more rigid, glumes dark brown, lowest embracing the base of the 





spikelet, fruit evidently punctate in lines. Cantire and Lancashire. 



2. E. miilticau'lis, Sm. ; rootstock short with one tuft of leaves and 

 stems, lowest glume largest, bristles 5-6, fruit 3-gonous, stigmas 3. 

 Marshes, pools, &c., chiefly on moorlands ; fl. July-Aug. Similar to E. palus- 



tris, but differs in habit, in the obliquely truncate lesif-sheaths, and usually 

 blunter glumes with narrower margins. Fruit hardly striate. DlSTBiB. 

 Europe from Gothland southwards, excl. Turkey, N. Africa, N. America. 



3. E. acicula'ris, Sm. ; rootstock stoloniferous, stems setaceous obtusely 

 4-gonous grooved, spikelets minute compressed, glumes ovate obtuse, 

 lowest broadest, bristles 1-3, fruit 3-gonous ribbed tumid, top subglobose. 



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