CYPERACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY) 



195 



303. S. Peckii. 



304. S cyperinus. 



2-7 ; scales oblong-ovate, acutish or obtuse, blackish- 

 ferniginous above the pale base ; achene soft, whitish, 

 oblong. — Meadows and bogs, X. H., Vt., and n, N. Y. 

 July, Aug. Fig. 303. 



32. S. cyperinus (L.) Kunth. (Wool Grass.) Culm 

 nearly terete (1-1.5 m. high) ; leaves narrowly linear, 



long, rigid, those of the involucre 



3-5, longer than the loose umbel 



(1.5-3 dm. long), the tips of the 



rays at length drooping ; involucels 



reddish-brown ; spikelets exceedingly 



numerous, ovoid, clustered, woolly 



at maturity (3-6 mm. long) ; the rust-colored bristles much 



longer than the pointless reddish-brovni scales; achene 



short-pointed, (Eriophorum L.) — Wet meadows and 



swamps, N. E. to Va., Tenn., and Ark. Aug., Sept. Fig. 



304. Var. Andrewsii Fernald. Involucels reddish-brown ; 



spikelets cylindric, 7-10 mm. long. — Local, Ct. 



Yar. pelius Fernald. Involucels blackish at base; 

 bristles drab or smoke-color. — The common form nortliw. ; 

 I\fd. to Ont., s. to Ct., N. Y., and Mich. — Perhaps dis- 

 tinct. Yar. CONDENSA.TUS Fernald. Similar, but with 

 rays all or- nearly all abbreviated, the glomerules in dense 

 irregular masses. — Local, range of last. Aug. -Oct. 



33. S. Eriophorum Michx. Coarse and tall (1-2 m.) ; the culm 2.5-6 mm. 

 thick below the ample (1.5-3 dm. high) inflorescence; leaves pale green, firm, 

 6-11 mm. broad; rays very elongate, mostlj' ascending, drooping at tip; the 

 involucels deep red-brown or terra-cotta ; spikelets ovoid, 3-6 mm. long, the 

 lateral pediceled ; scales red-brown ; wool slightly paler. — ]Mostly near the coast, 

 Ct. to Fla., La., and Ark. July-Sept. 



34. S. pedicellatus Fernald. Similar ; the culm rather stout (2-4 mm. 

 thick below the inflorescence) ; leaves pioJe green, firm, 3-10 

 mm. broad; inflorescence ample, 1-2.5 dm. high, the numere us 

 ascending subequal rays very slender, with nodding tip.^ : 

 involucels brown to dull straw-color ; spikelets 3-6 mm. long ; 

 scales pale broicn ; icool whitish-brown. — Alluvial thickets 

 and swamps, e. Que. to Ct., N. Y., and Wis., mostly in the 

 interior. July, Aug. Fig. 305. — Ordinarily very distinct, 

 occasionally approaching the preceding or the following as in 

 Var. PULLus Fernald. Spikelets dull brown or drab, 7-10 mm. 

 long. — Local, and perhaps as nearly related to the next (including S. atrocinc- 

 tus, var. grandis Fernald). 



35. S. atrocinctus Fernald. Slender (0.5-1.2 m. high); the culm 1-2 mm. 

 in diameter below the inflorescence ; leaves bright green, rather soft, 2-5 mm. 

 broad; inflorescence 0.5-1.8 dm. high, the slender rays very unequal ; invohirels 

 and ba,sp of involucre black; spikelets 2.5-6 mm. long, mostly pediceled; scales 

 grepnish-black ; wool drab or olive-brown. — Meadows and swamps, abundant 

 north w. ; Nfd. to Hudson Bay and Sask., s. to Ct., Pa., Mich., and la. June, 

 July (Aug. in colder regions). Var. brachypodus Fernald. Spikehts on 

 shortened pedicels, in irregular dense clusters; rays usually much reduced. 

 — Frequently occupying large areas, especially north w. and at higher altitudes 

 than the typical form. 



305. S. pedicellatus. 



10. ERIOPHORUM L. Cotton Grass 



Bristles naked, very numerous, silky and becoming greatly elongated. Other- 

 wise as in Scirpus. — Spikelets single or clustered or umbellate, when involu- 

 crate with leaf-like bracts, upon a leafy or naked stem ; scales membranaceous, 

 1-5-nerved, some of tlic lowest usually empty. Style very slender and elongated, 



