262 



CYPERACEAE. 



Scirpus nanus Spreng. Dwarf Club-rush. (Fig. 609.) 



Scirpus nanus Spreng. Pug. i: 4. 1815. 

 Eleocharis pygmaea Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3: 313. 



18 



Annual, roots fibrous, culms filiform, flatten 

 grooved, tufted, erect or ascending, i / -2 / hig! 

 bearing a scarious bladeless sheath near the b 

 Spikelet solitary, terminal, ovoid-oblong, rathe 

 acute, 3-8-flowered, i // -i^ // long, not subtended 

 by a bract; scales ovate or lanceolate, pale green, 

 the lower obtuse, the upper subacute; bristles about 

 6, downwardly barbed, longer than the achene; 

 stamens 3; style 3-cleft; achene oblong, 3-angled v 

 pale, pointed at each end, smooth. 



Muddy places in salt marshes. Cape Breton Island 

 to Florida and Texas, and about salt springs in New 

 York and Michigan. Also on the Pacific Coast of 

 North America and on the coasts of Europe. July- Sept. 



2. Scirpus pauciflorus L,ightf. Few-flowered Club-rush. (Fig. 610.) 



Scirpus pauciflorus Lightf. Fl. Scot. 1078. 1777. 

 Eleocharis pauciflorus Link, Hort. Berol. i: 284. 1827. 



Perennial by filiform rootstocks, culms very slender, 

 little tufted, 3-angled, grooved, leafless, 3 / -io / tall, the 

 upper sheath truncate. Spikelet terminal, solitary, not 

 subtended by an involucral bract, oblong, compressed, 

 4-io-flowered, 2 // ~3 // long, nearly i // wide; scales 

 brown with lighter margins and midvein, lanceolate, 

 acuminate; bristles 2-6, hispid, as long as the achene or 

 longer; stamens 3; style 3-cleft; achene obovoid-oblong, 

 gray, rather abruptly beaked, its surface finely re- 

 ticulated. 



In wet soil, Anticosti and Ontario to western New York, 

 Minnesota and British Columbia, south in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains to Colorado, and in the Sierra Nevada. Also in 

 northern Euope. July-Oct. 



3. Scirpus caespitdsus L,. Tufted Club-rush. (Fig. 611.) 



Scirpus caespitosus L. Sp. PI. 48. 1753. 



Perennial, culms smooth, terete, densely tufted, 

 light green, erect or ascending, almost filiform, wiry r 

 4 / -i5 / long. Basal sheaths numerous, membran- 

 ous, imbricated, acuminate, the upper one bearing a 

 short very narrow blade; Spikelet solitary, terminal, 

 few-flowered, ovoid-oblong, about 2" long, sub- 

 tended by a subulate involucral leaf of about 

 its own length; scales yellowish-brown, ovate, 

 obtuse or subacute, deciduous; bristles 6, smooth, 

 longer than the achene; stamens 3; style 3-cleft; 

 achene oblong, smooth, 3-angled, brown, acute. 



In bogs and on moist rocks, Greenland to Alaska, 

 south to the mountains of New England, the Adiron- 

 dacks, western New York, Illinois, Minnesota, and 

 British Columbia, in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, 

 and on the higher summits of the southern Alleghe- 

 nies. Also in Europe and Asia. June- Aug. 



