4-10 CYPERACE&. [Cyperus. 



Tribe III. SCLERIE'JE. Spikelets 1-2-fld., terete or compressed. Flon-e,\< 

 unisexual. Bristles 8. Kobresia. 



Tribe IV. CARICE'iE. Spikelets many-fld., terete, glumes most or all 

 flower-bearing. Flowers unisexual ; male naked ; female enclosed in a 

 perigynium 9. Carex. 



1. CYPE'RUS, L. 



Perennial, rarely annual, rushy or grass-like herbs of various habit. 

 Spikelets linear, compressed, in lateral or terminal usually bracteate heads, 

 or branched umbels, or panicles. Glumes many, distichous, concave, 

 keeled, deciduous, all or most flower-bearing. Flowers 2-sexual. Bristles . 

 Stamens 1-3. Styles deciduous, not tumid at the base, stigmas 2-3. 

 Nut 3-gonous or compressed. — Distrib. All climates but cold ; species 

 about 700. — Etym. The old Greek name. 



1. C. lon'eus, L. ; perennial, tall, cyme umbellate, glumes erect red- 

 brown. Galingale. 



Marshes, very rare, Pembroke, and from Kent to Cornwall ; Channel Islands : 

 fl. Aug -Sept. —Rootstock stout, creeping. Stems 2-3 ft., stout, erect. 

 3-quetrous, leafy at the base. Leaves few, flat, keeled; margins hardly 

 scaberulous. Rays many, 3-6 in., slender, again umbellate. Bracts leaf- 

 like, far exceeding the rays. Spikelets f-f in., 4-8, linear, curved, distich- 

 ously crowded. Glumes lanceolate, midrib green scabrid. Nut 3-quetrous. 

 pale. — Distrib. From France and Germany southd., N. Africa. — Rootstock 

 aromatic, formerly used as a medicine. 



2. C. fus'cus, L. ; annual, dwarf, spikelets corymbose or capitate, 

 glumes at length spreading green or pale brown. 



Ditches and wet meadows, very rare, Surrey (Chelsea naturalised, now 

 extinct) ; Channel Islands ; fl. Aug.-Sept.— Stents 3-10 in., many ascending 

 from a fibrous root, 3-quetrous. Leaves flat, spreading, grass-like. Ray.< 

 few, short, usually simple. Bracts 3, leaf-like, unequal, broad at the base. 

 curved, spreading. Spikelets £— £ in., crowded, slender. Glumes many, oblong- 

 ovate, subacute ; midrib broad or narrow, smooth, green. Nut minute, 

 white. — Distrib. From Gothland southd., N. Africa, N. and W. Asia. 



2. HELEO CHARIS, Br. 



Tufted, erect, usually perennial glabrous herbs. Stems slender, sheathed 

 at the base. Spikelets solitary, terminal, erect, terete angled or com- 

 pressed. Glumes many, imbricate all round the rachis ; lower 1-2, if any, 

 Uowerless. Flowers ^-svxu&l. Bristles 3-6, not longer than the glumes. 

 Stamens 3. Style deciduous, articulate with the top of the fruit, stigmas 

 2-3. Fruit compressed or 3-gonous, tipped with the style-base. — Distrib. 

 All climates, especially temp. ; species about 80. — Etym. eAoy and x a fy> w > 

 from delighting in marshes. 



