i 



JUNCACEiB. (rush FAMILY.) 545 



many densely-flowered pale-green spherical heads, nuuh longer than the invo- 

 luiial leaf, its branches erect and often elongated ; lu-ads (.'1-4" wide) 15-40- 

 flowered ; flowers lj-l^"long; sepals rigid, awl-shape«i and (especially the 

 onter) bristly pointed, at length pungent, as long as the stamens and nearly 

 equalling the ohlong-triangujar tai)er-pointed 1-celled capsule; antliers very 

 small; style elongated or very short ; seeds ovoid, abruptly pointed at each 

 end (J:" long). — Wet sandy soil, M:iss. to N. J. aud 8. C, west to Ind., Mo., 

 and 'J'ex. 



^'ar. echinatus, Kngelm. Stouter; leaves terete; branches of the com- 

 pact panicle short; heads larger (5-6" wide), 40- 80-flowered; flowers lJ-2" 

 long) ; sepals narrower and more sharply pointed, the outer a little longer 

 than the inner; stamens shorter and antliers longer than in the preceding, 

 aud seeds rather smaller and more slender. — Md. to Fla. 



Var. polycephalus, Kngelm. Much stouter ; leaves laterally flattened 

 (3-6" wide); panicle spreading, branched, bearing many distant heads as 

 large as in the last ; flowers 2 - 2^" loug ; the 3 outer sepals the longer ; an- 

 thers about as long as the filaments; seeds larger (^" long). — S. Va. to Fla., 

 west to Mo. aud Tex. 



■*-<• ■*-<• S (a mens 6. 



25. J. nod6sus, L. Stem erect (6-15' or 2° high), slender from a creep 

 ing thread-like and tul)er-bearing rootstock, mostly with 2 or 3 slender leaves; 

 heads few or several, rarely single, 8-20-flowered (3^-4" wide), overtopped 

 by the involucral leaf; flowers brown (li-2" long) ; sepals lance linear, awl- 

 pointed (the 3 outer mostly a little shorter), nearly as long as tlie slender 

 triangular tai)er-poiuted 1-celled capsule, anthers oblong, shorter than the 

 filaments ; style very short ; seeds (about ^" long) obovate, abruptly mucro- 

 nate. — Swamps and gravelly banks, N. J. and Penu. to N. Ind. and Iowa, and 

 northward. — July, Aug. — A''ar. mkgacephalus, Torr. Stem stout (1-3° 

 high), with thick leaves; heads few and large (6-8" wide), 30- 80-flowered ; 

 flowers pale green (2:^ -2f" long) ; outer sepals longest ; anthers linear, shorter 

 thau the filaments. — Western N. Y. to Miuu. aud Mo., and westward. 



* * Seeds caudate. 

 •*- Stamens 3. 



26. J. Canadensis, J. Gay. Tufted stems erect, terete, smooth, bearing 

 2-3 leaves; heads few- or many-flowered, paniculate; sepals lanceolate, the 3 

 outer shorter thau tlie inner, not much longer than the stamens, eipuU to or 

 shorter than the triangular-prismatic almost 1-celled usually short-pointed 

 capsule; style mostly short; seeds more or less distinctly tail-poiuted, deli- 

 cately many ribbed. — Common iiJmost everywhere. Aug., Sept. Easily dis- 

 tinguished by its late flowering from the similar n. 22. Very variable. 



Var. longicaudcltus, Engelm. Stem stout and rigid (1.^-3° high), 

 bearing in a decompound somewhat spreading panicle the numerous 5 - 50- 

 flowered heads; flowers greenish or light brown ( 1 .\ - 2" long) ; sepals awl- 

 pointed, mostly shorter than the abruptly short-pointed capsule ; seeds slender 

 (|-1" long), cons])icuously tail-pointed. — Maine to S. C, west to Minn, and 

 La. The most common form. 



Var. SUbcaud^tUS, Engelm. Stem slender, often decuinl)ent (1-2° 

 high), bearing in simpler spreading panicles fewer 8-20-flowered heads; 



36 



