Cijperus. CYPERACEJi:. 215 



spikes densely crowded : spikelcts ovate-oblong, acute, 2 to 4 lines long : scales 

 aeutish, obscurely S-nerved, a line long or less : nutlet oblong, triangular, acute at 

 each end, brown, half a line long. — C. sordidas, Presl, 1. c. IZH 



In the valley of tlie Sacramento {Pickerhuj); perhaps also collected by Hacnkc. Otherwise 

 known only in the Atlantic States from Delaware to Texas. 



§ 4. StyU 3-drft and nutlet triangular: sjnkdcts many-floivcred, flattened ivith 

 carinate scaler which are deeurrent vpon the rhacliis as narrow wings : 

 spikes in compound itnihcls. — rAPYiiL's, Kunth. 



* Wings of the rhachis soon scj)arating to the base, scarious and scale-like. 



Annuals. 



5. C. erythrorrhizos, ]\ruhl. Stems usually 1 to 3 feet high, stout, triangu- 

 lar, soiuetiujcs much reduced : leaves Hat, 2 or 3 lines broad, those of the involucre 

 (4 to 8) greatly elongated : rays 4 inches long or less, bearing a cluster of sessile 

 simple or compound oblong spikes h to 1 inch long : spikelets 2 to 6 (usually 3) 

 lines long, narrowly linear, numerous, spreading horizontally, nearly Hat, bright 

 chestnut : scales oblong, obtuse, mucronulate, acutely carinate, ^ line long, exceed- 

 ing the light-colored round-ovate aeutish comi)ressed-triangular nutlet. — C. cupreus, 

 Presl, Pel. Hoenk. i. 172. C. occldentalis, Torr. Cyp. 259. 



Colorado Valley (iVcR-icrr;/); near Monterey (/r<'c)^^•c); Clear Lake (5o/(7?i*r); near Sacramento 

 {Picki-rhig, Grcriic); Oregon {Domihis, Hall, Unwell), and common in the Atlantic States. 

 Presl's species, as well as that of Torrcy, was founded upon a very depauperate form. 



* * Wings of the rhachis persistently attached. 



G. C. phymatodes, Muhl. Perennial and fibrous-rooted, with slender root- 

 stocks bearing small globose tubers : stems rather stout, i to 3 feet high, triangular : 

 leaves nearly as long and involucral leaves elongated"': umbel often compound, 

 4 - 7-rayed, the light chestnut-colored s[)ikelets scattered and spreading in somewhat 

 distichous spikes (often an inch long or more), linear, acute, 3 to 12 lines long: 

 scales oblong, aeutish, conspicuously several-nerved, thin and scariously margined, 

 rather acutely carinate, a line long or slightly more: nutlet oblong, obtuse and ob- 

 tusely triangular, ^ of a line long. — C. repeiis, Ell. C. Ihvnkei, Presl, 1. c. 1 



Var. Hermanni. Spikes contracted and more or less clustereil at the summit 

 of the rays and involucellate : spikelets sometimes bracteate. — C. Ilennanni, Buck- 

 ley, Proc. Piiilad. Acad. 18G2, 10. 



Yosemite Valley (IJolandcr, a low form); San Luis Roy {Parr ij); Fort Ywm^ {Tlwmn,i); Truekee 

 Valley, Nevada ( IValsmi), and frecpuMit in the Atlantic States from Canada to Texas. The variety 

 lias been found on Kern lUver {Hcniwnn) and on the San Joa(iuin, Lcmmoit. The species resem- 

 bles C. (sadcntus of the OKI World (from the Mediterranean region to India), and has been re- 

 ferred to it by Boeckeler, Linn, xxxvi. 287. 



7. C, Stenolepis, Torr. Resembling C. phymatodes in habit : the straw-colored 

 spikelets more slender and with fewer (4 to 8) flowers, 3 or 4 lines long, somewhat 

 flattened or nearly terete at least when young, attenuate above ; rhachis with slender 

 joints : scales oblong, aeutish, nearly 2 lines long, several-nerved, the lower usually 

 l)ersistent after the falling of the spikelet : spikes usually rather dense, | to 1 inch 

 long, in a more or less compound umbel: nutlet linear, nearly cylindrical, obtuse, a 

 line long, dark brown. — Cyp. 263. 



In the valley of the Sacramento {Pickering); near Placerville (Rattan); in the southern Atlan- 

 tic States from North Carolina and Florida to Texas and New Mexico. 



§ 5. Sjjikclets 71 arrow, terete or nearly so, few to several-floivered, the scales closely 

 aj^presscd and the broad wings of the rhachis embracing the triangular 

 nutlet: style 3-cleft. — DicLiniUM, Griseb. 



8. C. Michauxianus, Schult. Annual : stem usually A to 2 feet high but 

 often low : leaves 1 to 3 lines broad : involucres largo : spikelets dull browu, some- 



