24 



2. Scales without a central green portion; leaves less than 2 mm 

 wide; heads narrowly ellipsoid (fig. 7F); keel of lateral sepals 

 entire. 



2. X. montana 



2. Scales with central green portion; larger leaves 2-10 mm wide; 

 head broadly ellipsoid (fig. 8B, 9B); keel of lateral sepals j agged or 

 lacerate. 



3. Seeds ca. 0.5 mm long; tips of lateral sepals hidden by 

 subtending bracts (fig. 8B); leaves 0.5-2.7 (rarely -6) mm wide. 



3. X. difformis 



3. Seeds 0.6-0.7 mm or longer; tips of lateral sepals extending 

 beyond tips or sides of subtending bracts (fig. 9B); leaves 3-10 

 mm wide. 

 A. X. smalliana 



1. Xyris torta Sm. Fig. 7, Plate 1, Map 15 



Common along damp or dryish sandy pond and lake shores of the 

 Coastal Plain of southern New England; uncommon in New Hamp- 

 shire. This species should be looked for in southwestern Maine. Range 

 extends from central New Hampshire and Massachusetts west to 

 Ontario, New York, Michigan, northern Indiana, and eastern Minne- 

 sota, south to Georgia, Texas, and Oklahoma. 



2. Xyris montana Ries Fig. 7, Plate 2, Map 16 



Widely scattered in acidic and rarely in alkaline areas along river 

 banks and in wet sand and peat of New England. This species of Xyris 

 is more common inland than along the Coastal Plain. Range extends 

 from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia west to New England and 

 northern Michigan, south locally to northern New Jersey and 

 northeastern Pennsylvania. 



Rare and endangered plant lists: New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode 

 Island, Connecticut 



3. Xyris difformis Chapm. Fig. 8, Plate 3, Map 17 



Common along sandy shores of acid ponds and lakes or bogs in the 

 Coastal Plain, especially of southern New England. This species is 

 listed in many manuals as Xyris caroliniana Walt., a name that Krai 

 (1966) has applied to a taxon formerly known as Xyris flexuosa Muhl. 

 Range extends from Nova Scotia and Maine west to New York, 

 Ontario, Michigan, northern Indiana, and Wisconsin, south mainly 

 along the coastal plain to Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. 



