•'•>2 CYPKRACK.^C. (SKDGE FAMILY.) 



1. CYPiJRUS, L. Galingai.e. (PI. 1.) 



Spikes niany-fcw-flowcivil, hiomIv flat, variously anan^'cd, mostly in clusters 

 or Iieails, wiiieli arc eoininoiily disposed iTi a siinj)lc or eompound terminal 

 undiel. Scales 2-ranked, condiiplicate and keeled (tlieir decurrent base below 

 often forniinij margins or winj^s to the hollow of the joint of the axis next 

 below), deciduous when old. Stamens 1 -3. No bristles or inner scales. St^le 

 2-3-cleft, deciduous. Aehenium lenticular or trian<Tular, naked at the 

 apex. — (Tnlms mostly triangular, .simple, leafy at the base, and with^one or 

 more leaves at the summit, forming an involucre to the umbel. I'eduncles 

 uneijual, sheathed at the base. All flowering in late summer or autumn. 

 (KvTTetpos, the ancient name.) 



§ 1. PYCKEUS, Beauv. Sif/le 2-rlp/l: aehenium flaWnrd : spikes Jlat, innuy-flow- 

 erid: vnly the lowest scale empli/. (Ours all ainiuals.) 



1. C. flavescens, I>. Stiimp)is 3; spikes becoming linear, obtuse, clus- 

 tered on the 2-4 very short rays (peduncles); scales obtuse, sircnc-i/i-liow ; 

 aehenium shiniiiff, orbicular. — Low grounds, mostly near the coast. — Culms 

 4'- 10' high; spikes 5" -8" long. Involucre .3-leaved, very unequal. (Ku.) 



2. C. diandrus, Torr. Stamens 2, or som' times 3 ; spikes lance-oblong, 

 scattered or clustered on the 2 - .3 very short or unequal rays ; scales rather obtuse, 

 jnirple-brouii on the margins or nearly all over; aehenium dull, oblompobomte : 

 otherwise much like the last. — Var. castXneus, Torr. (C. castaneus, ZJ/yt/.) 

 is only a form with browner scales. — Low grounds : common. 



3. C. Nuttallii, Torr. Slmiiens 2 ; s])ikes lance-linear, acute and very 

 flat (i'- 1' long), crowded on the i'l^w very short (or some of them distinct) rays; 

 scaiis oblorii], yeltoicish-brown, rather loose ; aehenium obhnfj-obonute, very blunt, dull. 

 — Saltor brackish marshes, Massachusetts to Virginia, and southward. — Culms 

 4' -12' high. — C. minimus? Nutt. (C. Cleaveri, Torr.) is a depauperate form 

 of this, with. a 1 -leaved involucre, and only one or two spikes! 



4. C. flavieomus, Michx. Stamens 3; spikes linear (4'' -9" long), 

 spiked and crowded on the whole length of the branches of the several-rayed 

 umliel, spreading ; scales oral, very obtuse, yellowish and brownish, broadly scarious- 

 (whitish-) margined; aehenium obovale, muc.ronate, blackish; culm stout (l°-3° 

 high); leaves of the involucre 3-5, very long. — Low grounds, Virginia and 

 southward. 



§2. PAPYRUS, Thouars. Style S-clefl: aehenium triangular: stamens 3: 

 spikes many-flowered : the scarious lomged margins of the joints of the axis 

 eaily separating down to the base in the form of a pair of free scales, tvhich 

 are persistent afer the proper scale falls away : otherwise us in § 3. ( Oars 

 annual.) 



5. C. erythrorhizos, Muhl. Culm obtusely triangular (3'-3° high); 

 umbel compound, many-rayed; involucre 4-.^-leavcd, very long; involucels 

 bristle-form ; spikes very numerous, crowded in oblong or cylindrical nearly 

 sessile heads or spikes, spreading horizontidly, linear, flatfish (3"-6"long), 

 bright chestnut-colored ; scales lanceolate, mucronulate. — Alluvial banks, Penn. 

 to Wisconsin ? Illinois, and common southward. — Koot fibrous, red. 



