316 



CYPERACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



i6. Eleocharis simplex (Ell.) A. Dietr. Twisted Spike-rush. Fig. 773. 



Scirpus simplex Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. i : 76. 1816. 

 Scirpus tortilis Link, Jahrb. 3: 78. 1820. 

 Eleocharis tortilis Schultes, Mant. 2: 92. 1824. 

 Eleocharis simplex A. Dietr. Sp. PI. 2 : 78. 1833. 



Annual, roots fibrous, culms tufted, filiform, sharply 

 3-angled, pale green, erect or reclining, twisting when old, 

 i-ii long. Sheaths obliquely truncate, i-toothed; spike- 

 let ovoid or oblong, subacute, several-flowered, 2"-$" long, 

 about i" thick, much thicker than the culm; scales firm, 

 pale, ovate, mostly obtuse; bristles 4-6, rigid, retrorsely 

 barbed, about equalling the achene and tubercle ; stamens 

 3 ; style 3-cleft ; achene obovoid, obscurely 3-angled, 

 strongly reticulated, longitudinally about i8-ribbed ; tuber- 

 cle cap-like or conic, truncate at the base, one-fourth to 

 one-half as long as the achene. 



In wet soil, New Jersey to Florida and Texas, near the coast. 

 July-Sept. 



17. Eleocharis tuberculosa (Michx.) R. & S. Large-tubercled Spike-rush. 



Fig. 774. 



Scirpus tuberculosus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 30. 1803. 

 Eleocharis tuberculosa R. & S. Syst. 2: 152. 1817. 



Annual, culms tufted, slightly compressed, very 

 slender, rather stiff, striate, bright green, 8'-2 tall. 

 Upper sheath obliquely truncate or i-toothed; spike- 

 let ovoid, obtuse or subacute, many-flowered, 3"-6" 

 long, nearly 2" in diameter ; scales broadly ovate, ob- 

 tuse, pale greenish-brown with a darker midvein, broadly 

 scarious-margined, firm, tardily deciduous ; bristles 6, 

 rigid, downwardly or rarely upwardly barbed, about as 

 long as the achene and tubercle ; stamens 3 ; style 

 3-cleft; achene obovoid, pale, trigonous, strongly reticu- 

 lated, longitudinally about i8-ribbed ; tubercle cap-like 

 or conic, nearly or quite as large as the achene. 



In wet soil, Massachusetts -to Pennsylvania, Florida and 

 Texas, near the coast. July-Sept. 



18. Eleocharis Torreyana Boeckl. Torrey's Spike-rush. Fig. 775. 



Eleocharis Torreyana Boeckl. Linnaea 36: 440. 1870. 



Annual, culms finely filiform, densely tufted, some- 

 what 4-sided, erect or reclining, often proliferous by 

 developing secondary culms in the axils of the spike- 

 let, sometimes rooting at the summit, 2'-8' long. Upper 

 sheath obliquely truncate ; spikelet oblong, subacute, 

 terete or nearly so, much thicker than the culm, many- 

 flowered, ii"-2$" long; scales ovate, acute, brownish- 

 red with a green midvein and lighter margins, early 

 deciduous except the lowest which is commonly larger 

 than the others, persistent and bract-like ; bristles 3-6, 

 slender, shorter than or equalling the achene; stamens 

 3; style 3-cleft; achene white, 3-angled, obovoid, smooth, 

 minute ; tubercle conic-pyramidal, much shorter than 

 the achene. 



In wet sandy soil, Connecticut to Florida and Texas, mostly 

 near the coast. Also in Cuba. Confused in the first edi- 

 tion of this work with E. microcarpa Torr. of the southern 

 states. June-Aug. 



