21Q CYPERACE.E. Cypcrns. 



what flattened, G- 12-flowere(l or more, spreading in rather loose dustored spikes 

 upon the more or less developed rays of tlie usually crowded unihel (often sessile on 

 the lower stems) : scales ovate, obtuse, a line long, hut slightly carinate and dhscurely 

 nerved : joints of tli<i rliachis thick, hroadly winged : nutlet hiuwnish, ohlong-ovate, 

 compressed-triangular, acute at each end*. 



Near Fort Yuma (Do Jiurii) and in marshes along the Colorado and Gila {Sclwtf); New Mexico 

 {Emory, fyrujid), and common in the Atlantic Status. 



9. C. ferax, llichard. 8tcm stout and tall, with hroad and much elongated in- 

 volucral leaves, and hearing an open spreading compound umbel of numerous rays : 

 spikelets pale, scattered, horizontally si)reading in loose subdistichous spikes, terete, 

 6 to 10 lines long, usually 8- 10-flowered : scales oblong-ovate, ol)tuse, strongly con- 

 cave and scarcely carinate, obscurely 7 - O-nerved, nearly U lines long, at length 

 spreading, twice longer than the thick broadly winged joints of the rhachis : nutlet 

 obovoid-oblong, obtuse and obtusely triangular, closely embraced by the Avings. — 

 Kunth, Enum. ii. 89 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 286. 



A species widely spread through the tropical regions of tlie glohe ; collected in California only 

 by Muir, the locality unknown. 



§ 6. Spikelets 1-o-Jiowered, slender and suhtcrete, often Jlexnous, acute or acumi- 

 nate (the upper Jlower vsuuUij iDidevelojwd) : scales appressed, obtuse, sev- 

 eral-? leroed : Joints of the rhachis short, slender, narroudij winged: sti/le 

 3-cleft and nutlet triangular. — Mariscus, (Iriseh. 



* Sjnkelets scattered in open spikes: umbel compound. 



10. C. CaliforniCUS. Stem stout and tall, triangular : involucre about 5-leaved, 

 the leaves much elongated, nearly 6 lines broad, very rough on the margins : rays 

 about 10, elongated (4 inches), bearing involucellate und)els with slender rays an 

 inch long or less : spikes 1 to U- inches long, the spreading or somewhat retlexed 

 llexuous spikelets tereti-, attenuate upward, very sh-nder, 2 to 4 lines h)ng, 2-4- 

 ilowered : scales oblong-ovate, a line long : nutlet unknown. — C. speciosits, Torr. 

 Bot. Mex. Bound.. 22G. 



Collected in California by nai Mr. A. Filch, but U-)cality uncertain. In habit resembling forms 

 of the eastern C. sfri'jositfi. 



=k * Spikelets in dense cylindrical sessile spikes. 



11. C. flavamariSCUS, Oriseb. T'eretinial, with creei)ing rootstock : stems 

 usually slender, acutely triangular, 1 or 2 feet high, exceeding the leaves : involucre 

 3-4-leaved : spikes about 5 (4 to G), very dense, G to 8 lines long : si)ikelets spread- 

 ing, oblongdanceolate, acute, U lines long, 2-fluwered, 1-fruited : scales yellowish or 

 brownish, ovate, about 11-nerved : nutlet triangular-obovate, g of a line long. — Fl. 

 Brit. W. Ind. 5G7. MariscnsjlavHS, Vahl. M. Ilaiikei, Presl, Bel. Iheiik. i. 181. 

 C.favus, BoQckeler, Linn, xxxvi. 384. 



From Mexico and the West Indies to Brazil ; reported as collected by Ilaenke at Monterey. 

 C. piLhescens, Presl, of the same collection and from the same locality, may perhaps be a radiate 

 form of this species, though described as pubescent throughout, which is a character otherwise 

 unknown in the genus. 



2. SCIRPUS, binn. nni.itusu or Cmn-RiTsii. 

 Flowers perfect. S[iikelcts usually many-flowered, with the scales imbricately 

 and clo.sely arranged around the rhachis, the lowest one or two often empty, lly- 

 pogynous bristles 3 to G, barbed or ciliate, or wanting. Stamens 1 to 3. Style 

 2 -3-cleft, scarcely or not at all thickened at base, deciduous or only the base per- 

 sistent. Nutlet lenticidar or more or less triangular, obovoid. — Tufted annuals or 

 mostly perennials with creeping rootstocks, the stems sheathed or leafy at base, and 



