GENUS 2. 



PIPEWORT FAMILY. 



4. Eriocaulon decangulare L. Ten-angled 



Pipewort. Fig. 1143. 

 Eriocaulon decangulare L. Sp. PI. 87. I7S3- 



Stems short and thick, \'-2 r long. Leaf-blades 

 finely many-nerved, tapering to a blunt point, 

 6'-2o' long, 2"-8" wide, usually much longer 

 than the sheaths; scapes stout, rigid, glabrous, 

 io-14-angled, i-3 tall; heads 4"-8" in diameter; 

 involucral bracts ovate, often eroded, denticulate 

 at the apex and pubescent below, imbricated in 

 4 or 5 series; receptacle pubescent with many- 

 celled hairs ; flowers 2" high, densely woolly at the 

 base ; scales longer than the flowers, acute, white- 

 bearded; as are the spatulate perianth-segments. 



In swamps, southern New Jersey and Pennsyl- 

 vania to Florida and Texas. June-Oct. 



2. SYNGONANTHUS Ruhland ; Urban, 

 Symb. Ant. i : 487. 1900. 



Perennial or rarely annual herbs, our species 

 with much the habit of Eriocaulon. Stems very 

 short. Leaves awl-shaped, tufted. Scapes slender, several-angled, erect, twisted in growth, 

 sheathed at the base by a long acute bract. Flowers androgynous, in globular or hemi- 

 spheric heads, each in the axil of a scale or the scales sometimes obsolete. Involucral 

 bracts imbricated in 3 or 4 series. Perianth of 2 series, each of 2 or 3 segments in the stami- 

 nate flowers, the outer segments distinct, the inner connate; stamens 2 or 3, inserted on the 

 inner perianth and opposite its lobes. Pistillate flowers with the outer segments distinct, 

 the inner often connate above the 2-celled, 2-3-ovuled ovary; style cleft into 2 or 3 entire or 

 2-cleft stigmas. Fruit a 2-3-celled, 2-3-seeded capsule, loculicidally dehiscent. [Greek, refer- 

 ring to the united petals of the pistillate flowers.] 



About 80 species, mostly natives of tropical America. Only the following is known in the 

 United States. Type species : Eriocaulon umbellatum Lam. 



i. Syngonanthus flavidulus (Michx.) Ruh- 

 land. Yellow Pipewort. Fig. 1144. 



Eriocaulon flavidulum Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2 : 166. 1803. 

 Paepalanthus flavidulus Kunth, Enum. 3 : 532. 1841. 

 Dupatya flavidula Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 745. 1891. 

 6". flavidulus Ruhland, in Engler, Pflanzenreich 4 30 : 256. 

 1903. 



Leaves 3~5-nerved, i'-2 r long, awl-shaped, woolly 

 at the base, glabrous or sparingly pubescent above. 

 Scapes numerous, 5-angled, pubescent, 4'-i2' high ; 

 sheaths longer than the leaves, slightly inflated 

 above, pubescent; involucral bracts straw-colored, 

 glabrous, obtuse, oval, shining, somewhat pubescent 

 at the base ; receptacles glabrous or slightly pubes- 

 cent; scales very thin, scarious-white, linear, slightly 

 pubescent, about as long as the flowers; flowers 

 about ii" high; perianth 6-parted; outer perianth 

 of the staminate flowers stalked, woolly, the inner 

 a campanulate tube with 3 stamens; pistillate flow- 

 ers with both sets of perianth-segments distinct, the 

 inner much narrower than the outer; style 3-parted. 



Moist pine barrens, Virginia to Florida. March-July. 



3. LACHNOCAULON Kunth, Enum. 3 : 497. 1841. 



Tufted herbs with the habit of Eriocaulon, the leaves linear. Scapes several-angled, 

 sheathed at the base by an entire bract about as long as the leaves ; heads globose. Recep- 

 tacle pilose. Flowers androgynous. Perianth of 3 segments. Staminate flowers with 3 

 stamens united below into a thickened tube which is coalescent with a body, variously 

 regarded as a corolla or as a rudimentary pistil, bearing at its apex 3 fimbriate or entire 

 lobes alternate with the filaments ; anthers i-celled, minute. Pistillate flowers with a sessile 

 3-celled, 3-ovuled ovary surrounded by copious woolly hairs at the base; styles united below, 

 spreading above into 3 divisions which are 2-parted, there being thus 6 stigmas. [Greek, 

 referring to the woolly scapes of some species.] 



Eight known species of the southern United States. Type species : Eriocaulon anceps Walt. 



