578 CYPERACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 



glaucous, sometimes hairy ; spikelets ovate, acute (3" long) ; stamen 1 ; acJiene 

 conspicuous! jj 6 - 8-rihbed on each side, and wiihjiner cross-lines. — Low ground, 

 Penn. to ila., west to 111, and La. July - Sept. 



* * Stijle 3-cleft and achene triangular ; tubercle soon deciduous; spikelets 



smaller and fewer-Jiowered. 



3. F. autumnalis, Roem. & Schult. (PI. 3, fig. 6-9.) Annual (3- 

 16' high), in tufts; culms flat, slender, diffuse or erect; leaves flat, acute; 

 umbel compound; spikelets oblong, acute (1-2" long), single or 2-3 in a 

 cluster ; scales ovate-lanceolate, mucronate ; stamens 1-3. — Low grounds, 

 Maine to Fla., west to 111. and La. 



* * * Style S-cleft,Jiliform and not ciliate; achene acutely triangular ; tubercle 



more or less persistent. 



4. P. capillaris. Gray. Low annual, densely tufted (3-9' high) ; culm 

 and leaves nearly capillary, the latter short ; umbel compound or panicled ; 

 spikelets (2" long) ovoid-oblong; stamens 2; achene minutely wrinkled, very 

 obtuse. — Sandy fields, N. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn., Tex., and the Pacific. 



F. Vahlii, Link (F. cougesta, Torr.), a diminutive southern species, with 

 long filiform leaves, sessile capitate spikelets, narrow acuminate scales, and 

 the style 2-cleft and not ciliate, has been found in ballast-sand along the north- 

 ern coast. 



8. SCIRPUS, Tourn. Bflrcsh or Club-Rlsh. (PI. 3.) 



Spikelets several -many-flowered, solitary or in a terminal cluster which is 

 subtended by a 1 -several-leaved involucre (this when simple often appearing 

 like a continuation of the culm), terete, the scales being regularly imbricated 

 all round in many or several ranks, or rarely somewhat compressed and the 

 fewer scales inclining to be 2-ranked. Flowers to all the scales, or to all but 

 one or two of tlie lowest, all perfect. Periantli of 3 - 6 mostly retrorsely barbed 

 or ciliate bristles (not elongated), or sometimes wanting. Stamens mostly 3. 

 Style 2-3-cleft, simple, not bulbous at base, wholly deciduous, or sometimes 

 leaving a tip or point to the lenticular or triangular achene. — Culms sheathed 

 at base ; the sheaths usually leaf-bearing. Mostly perennials ; flowering in 

 summer. (The Latin name of the Bulrush.) 



* Spikelets sol itary , few-flowered , small, often flattish ; achene triangular, smooth. 

 H- Involucre a short au'l-shaped bract; culms tufted (3-12' high),flliform. 



1. S. C8espit6sus, L. Culms terete, wiry, densely sheathed at base, in 

 compact turfy tufts; the upper sheath bearing a very short awl-shaped leaf; 

 spikelet ovoid, rusty -color ; involucral bract a rigid-pointed scale, resembling 

 the lowest proper scale of the spikelet and scarcely surpassing it ; bristles 6, 

 smoof//, longer than the abruptly sliort-pointed achene. — Coast of Maine, al- 

 pine summits of N. Eng., swamps of northern N. Y., N. 111., Minn., and north- 

 ward; also on Roan Mt., N. C (Eu.) 



2. S. Clintonii, Gray. Culms acutely triangular, almost bristle-like; 

 sheaths at the l)ase bearing a very slender almost bristle-shaped leaf shorter 

 (usually very much sliorter) than the culm ; involucral bract awl shaped, mostly 

 shorter than the chestnut-colored ovate spikelet, which has pointless scales ; 

 otherwise as the next. — Rather dry plains, N. Y. June. 



