GENUS 6. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



323 



Blade of the upper stem-leaf much longer than the sheath. 

 Leaves flat, at least below the middle. 



Scales with a prominent midvein ; stamens 3. 



Midvein not prominent at the tip of the scale. 



Midvein prominent to the tip of the scale. 

 Scales striate-nerved ; stamen i. 



i. Eriophorum alpinum L. Alpine Cotton- 

 grass. Fig. 791. 



Eriophorum alpinum L. Sp. PI. 53. 1753- 



E. hudsonianum Michx. Fl. Br. Am. I : 34. 1803. 



Scirfits hudsonianus Fernald, Rhodora 8: 161. 1906. 



Perennial by short rootstocks, sending up numerous 

 filiform triangular roughish culms, 6'-io' high. Leaves 

 subulate, 3"-io" long, triangular, channeled, borne 

 very near the base of the culm, the lower sheaths often 

 scarious and bladeless ; spikelet solitary, terminal, small, 

 erect; involucral bract subulate, mostly shorter than the 

 spikelet, sometimes wanting ; young spikelet ovoid- 

 oblong, subacute ; scales oblong-lanceolate, yellowish- 

 brown, firm, obtuse or subacute, the midvein slender; 

 bristles 6, white, crisped, 4-7 times as long as the scale ; 

 achene narrowly obovoid-oblong, brown, apiculate, dull. 



In bogs and on high mountains, Newfoundland to Hudson 

 Bay and British Columbia, south to Connecticut, northern 

 New York and Michigan. Also in Europe and Asia. Summer. 



7. E. tenellum. 



8. E. aiigustifolium. 



9. E. viridicarinatnm. 

 10. E. virginiewn. 



2. Eriophorum Scheuchzeri Hoppe. Schcuch- 

 zer's Cotton-grass. Fig. 792. 



E. Schettchzeri Hoppe, Taschenb. 1800: 104. 1800. 

 E. capitatum Host, Gram. Aust. i : 30. pi. 38. 1801. 



Stoloniferous ; sheaths all blade-bearing or only the 

 upper one bladeless ; culms slender, smooth, nearly 

 terete, io'-i6' tall. Leaves filiform, channeled, usually 

 much shorter than the culm ; spikelet solitary, terminal, 

 erect; involucre none; scales ovate-lanceolate or the 

 inner ones linear-lanceolate, long-acuminate, purple- 

 brown, membranous, with narrow, pale margins ; bristles 

 white, weak, nearly straight, 4-5 times as long as the 

 scales ; achene obovoid-oblong, acute, brown, dull, nearly 

 i" long, subulate-beaked. 



In bogs, Newfoundland and Labrador to Alberta, Alaska 

 and British Columbia. Also in Europe and Asia. Summer. 



3. Eriophorum Chamissonis C. A. Meyer. 

 Russet Cotton-grass. Fig. 793. 



E. Cliamissoiiis C. A. Meyer; Ledeb. Fl. Alt. I : 79. 1829. 

 E. Chamissonis albidum Fernald, Rhodora 7: 84. 1905. 

 Eriophorum riisscolum Fries, Novit. Mant. 3: 67. 1842. 



Stoloniferous; culms solitary or little tufted, terete 

 or somewhat triangular, erect, smooth, 4'-2J tall, 

 mostly longer than the leaves. Upper sheath inflated, 

 bladeless, mucronate, rarely with a short subulate blade, 

 usually borne below the middle of the culm; leaves 

 filiform, triangular-channeled, mucronate, i'-4' long, 

 or those of sterile shoots much longer; spikelet soli- 

 tary, erect; involucre none; scales ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, thin, purplish-brown with broad white mar- 

 gins; bristles bright reddish-brown or white, 3-5 times 

 as long as the scale; achene oblong, narrowed at each 

 end, apiculate. 



Tn bogs. Newfoundland to Quebec, New Brunswick, On- 

 tario, Montana. Washington and British Columbia. Also 

 in Europe and Asia. June-Aug. 



