CYPERACEAE. 



51 



2. Eleocharis cellulosa Torr. Hound- 

 stemmed Spike-rush. (Fig. 76.) Perennial 

 by horizontal rootstocks. Culms invested by 

 discolored sheaths at the base, terete above, 

 l°-2i° tall, continuous; spikelet cylindric, V- 

 IV long, li"-2^" thick; scales broadly obovate, 

 with white hyaline margins, appressed, rounded 

 at the apex, minutely nerved; perianth-bristles 

 6, slightly unequal, nearly smooth; style 3- 

 clef t ; achenes broadly obovoid, copiously pitted, 

 about as long as the bristles; tubercle deltoid, 

 about i as broad as the widest part of the 

 achene. [E. palustris of Reade and of H. B. 

 Small.] 



Occasional in marshes. Native. Southeastern 

 United States and West Indies. Flowers in sum- 

 mer and autumn. 



3. Eleocharis capitata (L.) R. Br. 



Capitate Spike-rush. (Fig. 77.) An- 

 nual ; roots fibrous ; culms densely tufted, 

 nearly terete, almost filiform, 2-12' tall. 

 Upper sheath 1-toothed; spikelet ovoid, 

 obtuse, much thicker than the culm, 1*"- 

 3" long, I'-li" thick, many-flowered; 

 scales broadly ovate, obtuse, firm, pale 

 or dark brown with a greenish midvein, 

 narrowly scarious-margined, persistent ; 

 style 2-cleft; bristles 5-8, slender, down- 

 wardly hispid, as long as the achene; 

 achene obovate, jet black, smooth, shin- 

 ing, nearly i" long; tubercle depressed, 

 apiculate, constricted at the base, very 

 much shorter than the achene. [Scirpus 

 capitatus L.; E. melanocarpus of Reade; 

 Scirpus melanocarpus of H. B. Small 

 and Lefroy.] 



Common in marshes. Native. Southeastern 

 United States, West Indies, tropical continental 

 America and Old World tropics. Flowers nearly 

 throughout the year. 



4. Eleocharis praticola Britton. Meadow 

 Spike-rush. (Fig. 78.) Annual, small. Culms 

 slender, tufted, 3' tall or less. Upper sheath 

 hyaline, membranous; spikelet ovoid or oblong- 

 ovoid, about 1" long; scales brown, lanceolate 

 or oblong-lanceolate, lax in age; perianth- 

 bristles 5-7, retrorsely barbed, shorter than 

 the achene; style 2-cleft; achene obovoid, 

 about i" long, dark brown, shining, the 

 tubercle very small. 



Pembroke and Warwick Marshes. Native. 

 Southeastern United States. Flowers in spring 

 and presumably later in the year. 



