282 



CYPERACEAE. 



2. Scleria triglomerata Michx. Tall Nut-rush. (Fig. 663.) 



Scleria triglomerata Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 168. 1803. 

 Rootstocks hard, short, clustered, culms 3- 

 angled, slender or rather stout, erect or ascending, 

 rough or nearly smooth on the angles, \y 2 -$ tall. 

 Leaves flat, smooth or slightly rough-margined, 

 glabrous or nearly so, i J^ // -2^ // wide, the lower 

 short, acute, the upper tapering to a long tip, rarely 

 exceeding the culm; flower-clusters terminal, and 

 usually also i or 2 smaller ones from the axils; 

 bracts glabrous or slightly ciliate; achene ovoid or 

 ovoid globose, obtuse but somewhat pointed, bony, 

 obscurely 3-angled, smooth, bright white, shining, 

 about \" high, supported on a low obtusely trian- 

 gular, papillose-crustaceous hypogynium. 



In meadows and thickets. Vermont to Wisconsin, 

 south to Florida and Texas. July-Sept. 



Scleria triglomerata minor Britton. 



Scleria triglomerata var. gracilis Britton, Ann X. Y. 

 Acad. Sci. 3: 230. 1885. Not 5. gracilis Ell. 1824. 

 Culms very slender, i-2 long; flower clusters smaller; achene ovoid, subacute, one-half as 

 large as that of the type. Southern New Jersey. 



3. Scleria reticularis Michx. Reticulated 

 Nut-rush. (Fig. 664.) 



Scleria reticularis Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 167. 1803. 



Rootstocks small, culms very slender, erect, 3- 

 angled, i-2^ tall. Leaves narrowly linear, smooth, 

 glabrous or nearly so, i // -i^ // wide, not overtopping 

 the culm; spikelets in a terminal cluster and 1-3 re- 

 mote short-stalked axillary rather loose ones; bracts 

 glabrous; achene globose, crustaceous, dull white 

 when mature, reticulated by longitudinal and trans- 

 verse ridges, %" in diameter, glabrous; hypogynium 

 3-lobed, its lobes appressed to the base of the achene. 



In moist meadows, eastern Massachusetts to Florida, 

 west to Missouri. Also in Cuba. July-Sept. 



Scleria reticularis pubescens Britton, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 



3: 232. 1885. 



Reticulations on the achene pubescent; lateral clusters 

 usually longer stalked. New Jersey to Florida and Cuba. 



Scleria reticularis obscura Britton, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 3: 232. 1885. 

 Reticulations very obscure, the top of the achene almost smooth. Rhode Island to North Carolina. 



4. Scleria Torreyana Walp. Torrey's Nut-rush. (Fig. 665.) 



Scleria Torreyana Walp. Ann. 3: 696. 1852-53. 

 Scleria laxa Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3: 376. 1836. Not 



R. Br. 1810. 



Culms weak but rather thick, spreading or dif- 

 fuse, 3-angled, nearly or quite smooth, i-2> long. 

 Leaves linear, nearly flat, smooth, glabrous, \%.' f -St" 

 wide, not exceeding the culm; spikelets in a loose 

 terminal cluster, and 1-3 filiform-stalked smaller ax- 

 illary ones; bracts glabrous; achene globose, some- 

 what pointed, nearly \" in diameter, irregularly ru- 

 gose with low ridges somewhat spirally arranged, the 

 ridges usually pubescent, and connected by shorter 

 longitudinal ones, the surface thus indistinctly reticu- 

 lated; hypogynium 3-lobed, the lobes appressed to 

 the base of the achene. 



In moist soil, southern New Jersey to Florida, Texas 

 and Mexico. Also in Cuba. Forms of this species with 

 obscurely reticulate achenes and narrow leaves are with 

 difficulty separated from the preceding. June-Aug. 



