PIPEWORT FAMILY. 



Family 13. ERIOCAULACEAE Undl. Vcg. Kingd. iaa. 



PIPEWORT FAMILY. 







Bog or aquatic herbs, perennial or perhaps sometimes annual with fihrua* 

 mn>tly knotted or spongy roots, tufted grass-like basal leaves, and "W*rrrfrn 

 i androgynous) occasionally dioecious very small flower tn inal olttar> 



heads, on long slender scapes. Head of flowers i: 



flower borne in the axil of a scarious scale. Perianth of j aeries of segments or 

 rarely of one series. Stamens in the staminate flowers a* many or 

 many as the sepals. Ovary rr-.vcelled. Ovules _> 



2-;>-seeded capsule, loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds pendulous, <irthotropOtt; 

 endosperm farinaceous. 



Six genera and about 340 species. \\-iiU ',> distributed in warm and tropical r Ilium, a hm u 



tending into the temperate zones. The family is most alnind.itr. Sovtb An 



Perianth of 2 series of segments; sepals and \ -t., .imrn* diMinrt anthrr* xrllr*! 



Stamens twice as many as the inner perianth -segment 



Stamens as many as the inner perianth-scgmi st/m' 



Perianth simple, of 3 segments ( sepals i; stamen* ,. im.tn.lt Ij.h.in* below; anlbr: 



i. ERIOCAULON L. Sp. PI. 87. 17 



Acaulescent or very short stemmed herbs, the scapes erect, or when immcritd Jilicstt, 



angular, with a long sheathing bract at the base. Leaves mostly short, prra<l 

 parallel-nerved. Head of flowers woolly, white, lead-colored or nearly black. 

 flowers: Outer perianth-segments 2 or 3, distinct or sometimes connate, the inner united be- 

 low into a tube, alternate with the outer ones, each with a minute spot or gland mmr Ml Mid- 

 dle or apex; stamens mostly 4-6, one opposite each perianth-segment, the filament* of UMM 

 opposite the inner segments the longer; pistil small, rudimentary or none. Pistillate tammn: 

 Outer perianth-segments as in the staminate flowers, the inner indistinct, narrow; fllMMM 

 wanting; ovary sessile or stalked; style columnar or filiform, stigmas 3 or 3 filiform. Pnrit 

 a thin-walled capsule. Seeds oval, covered with minute processes. [. 

 the wool at the base of the scape in some species.] 



About no species, of very wide geographic distribution in tropical and warn: 

 the following, 3 others occur in the southern t'mted S: 



Leaf-blades as long as the sheaths, coarsely 3-8- ft -. *capes 7-ai. . 



diameter. "V" 



Leaf-blades shorter than the sheaths, finely 6-ao-ft : 



3"-6" in diameter. 

 Leaf-blades much longer than the sheaths, finely io-5o-nerved; scapes 10-14 anl' 



in diameter. 





i. Eriocaulon septangulare With. Seven-angled 



Eriocaulon seplangnla>r\\"\\.\\. Bot. Arr. Brit. PI. 784. 



1776. 



Xasnn-thia articulata Huds. Fl. Angl. Kd. 2. 415. 177*- 

 nilon arfit-ulatunr'MoTong, Bull. Torr. Club. 18: 



353- 1891. 



Stem a mere crown. Leaf-blades pellucid, 

 fenestrate-nerved, #'-3' long, usually as long as 

 the sheaths; scapes weak, twisted, about 7-angled, 

 smooth, I'-S' tall, or when submersed sometimes 

 4-io long; involucral bracts glabrous, or the 

 innermost bearded at the apex, oblong, usually 

 shorter than the flowers; marginal flowers usually 

 staminate; scales of the receptacle spatulatc or ob- 

 ovate, abruptly pointed, brown above, white-woolly; 

 staminate flowers about i % " high; pistillate flowers 

 scarcely more than half as large; perianth-segments 

 of both kinds of flowers white-bearded. 



In still water or on shores, Newfoundland to ( ' 

 and Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. Also in 

 n Europe. July-Oct. 



*Text contributed by the late Rev. THOMAS MOK 



ijf. *99<) 



