| AEMICARPHA CYPERACEZ ; 693 
ELEOCHARIS © 
inches high, tufted, with reddish-brown basal sheaths: leaves filiform, 
shorter than the stem: principal involucral bract continuous with the 
stem, 5-8 lines long, the others shorter: spikelets greenish, broadly ovate: 
scales with broadly ovate base and long acuminate aed tips, twice 
as long as the nutlet: ‘hyaline scale truncate or erosely toothed, not ad- 
herent to the nutlet. In wet grounds, base of Mount Adams Washington 
to California. 
H. intermedia Piper Fl. Palouse Reg. 36. Stems numerous, tufted, 
2-4 inches high: leaves narrow, involute, the recurved blades 6-18 lines 
long: spikelets ovoid, obtuse, 1-2 lines long: involucral bracts usually 3, 
the uppermost 6-18 lines long, the others much shorter: scales 4-1 line 
long, broadly obovate, the abruptly acuminate somewhat spreading or re- 
curved apex as long as the body: hyaline scale triangular-ovate, not ad- 
herent to the nutlet, which is oblong-ovate or obovate, about 4 line long, 
with a short beak. Margins of ponds along the Columbia and Snake rivers, 
Oregon and Washington. 
6 ELEOCHARIS R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Hol. i, 224. (1810.) 
Annual or perennia! herbs with simple triangular, quadrangu- 
lar, terete, flattened or grooved stems, the leaves reduced to sheaths, 
or the lowest rarely leaf-bearing, and small flowers in dense sol- 
itary terminal spikes without an involucre. Scales concave, 
spirally imbricated all around. Perianth of 1-12 bristles, usually 
retrorsely barbed, wanting in some species. Stamens 2 or 3. 
Style 2-cleft, the base persistent and forming a tubercle on the 
summit of the more or less 3-angled achene. 
E. ovata R.-& S. Syst. ii, 152. Glabrous annual with fibrous roots: 
stems tufted, slender or filiform, rather deep green, nearly terete, mostly 
erect, 2-16 inches high: spike ovoid or oblong, obtuse, many-flowered, 
2-5 lines long, 1-14 lines in diameter: scales thin, oblong-orbicular, very 
obtuse, brown with green midrib and scarious margins: bristles 6-8, de- 
ciduous, usually longer than the achene: stamens 2 or 3: style 2- or 3-cleft: 
achene pale brown, shining lenticular, obovate-oblong, smooth, % line 
long or more: tubercle deltoid, acute, compressed, scarcely constricted at 
base, about 14 as long as the achene and narrower. In wet soil, Oregon to 
Brit. Columbia, New Brunswick and Florida: also Europe. 
E. palustris R. & 8. 1. c. 151. Perennial by horizontal often densely 
matted rootstocks: stems stout, terete or somewhat compressed, striate, 
1-5 feet high: basal sheaths brown, rarely bearing a short blade, the up- 
per obliquely truncate: spike ovoid-cylindric, 4-12 lines iong, 144-2 lines 
in diameter, many-flowered, thicker than the stem: scales ovate-oblong or 
ovate-lanceolate, purplish brown with scarious margins and green midrib, 
or pale green all over: bristles usually 4, slender, longer than the achene 
and tubercle, sometimes wanting: stamens 2 or 3: style 2- or 3-cleft: 
achene lenticular, smooth, yellow, % line long: tubercle conic-triangular, 
constricted at the base, flattened, 14-14 as long as the achene. In ponds 
and moist meadows, Alaska to California and-across the continent: also in 
Europe and Asia. 
Var. glaucescens Gray Man. ed. 5, 558. stems slender or. nearly 
filiform, 8-18 inches high: spikes oblong, 2-5 lines long: achenes smaller: 
tubercle narrower. In wet meadows and marshes, range nearly of the 
type in North America. 
E. acicularis R. &S. 1. ¢ 154. Perennial by filiform stolons or root” 
stocks: stems tufted, filiform or sete ceous, obscurely 4-angled and grooved: 
weak, erect or reclining, 1-8 inches lng: sheaths truncate: spikes com 
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