444 CYPEEACE^E. [Scmpus. 



10. S. csespito'sus, L. ; rootstock and leaves very short, 2 lowest 

 glumes fertile equalling or exceeding the spike inucronate or awned, 

 bristles 4-6 smooth, obovoid 3-quetrous acuminate. Eleocharis, Link. 

 Heaths and moors, N. to Shetland ; ascends to 3,500 ft. ; Ireland ; fl. June- 

 July. Stolons 0. Stems 6-12 in., very densely tufted, wiry, grooved. 

 Sheaths, lower split, large, stout, rigid, shining ; upper slender, with an erect 

 short subulate blade. Spikelets - in., erect, chestnut-brown, shining. 

 Glumes few, rigid, lowest flowering with usually a long green point. 

 Anthers long, exserted, mucronate. Stigmas 3, very long. Nut brown. 

 DISTRIB. N. and Mid. Europe (Arctic), Siberia, N. America. 



11. S. pauciflo'rus, Lightf. ; rootstock creeping, stolons long, upper 

 sheaths truncate, lowest glume fertile obtuse not equalling the spikelet, 

 bristles 3-6 barbed, nut obovoid 3-gonous. Elcocharis, Link. 

 Moorlands, N. to Caithness ; ascends to 2,100 ft. in Yorkshire ; Ireland ; 



Channel Islands ; fl. July- Aug. Similar to S. ccespito'sus, but* leafless, 

 smaller; lowest glume obtuse, with the rib not produced to the top; and 

 anthers not apiculate. Nut pale, minutely striate ; beak slightly contracted 

 at the base, representing the tumid top of the nut of Heleo'charis. DJSTRIB. 

 Europe (Arctic) (excl. Greece, Turkey), N. and W. Asia, N. America. 



12. S. par'vulus, R. and S. ; minute, rootstock creeping, sheaths 

 hyaline, leaves setaceous, spikelet minute, glumes pale lowest flowerless 

 obtuse not exceeding the spikelet, bristles 4-8 barbed, fruit obovoid 

 3-gonous. JEleocharis, Hook. 



Sandy seashores, Devon, Dorset, Hants, "Wicklow ; fl. July. Rootstock 

 elongate, capillary, with distant tufts of a few soft stems and leaves, and 

 small tubers. Stems 1-2 in., grooved ; sheath very inconspicuous, owing to 

 its extreme tenuity. Leaves like the stem, slightly dilated at the base, 

 recurved, subulate, channelled. Spikelets T ^ in., pale. Glumes membranous, 

 obtuse. Nut pale. DISTRIB. From Norway southd. (excl. Spain, Greece, 

 Turkey). 



SECTION 4. Spikelets small, in a terminal erect bracteate distichous 

 spike ; glumes few. Bristles 3-6. (Blysfmus, Panz.) 



13. S. Cari'cis, Retz ; leaves flat, edges rough, lower glume ribbed 

 much shorter than the spikelet. S. carici'nus, Schrad. ; S. planifo'lius, 

 Hull ; Blys'mus compres'sus, Panz. 



Wet pastures and marshes, from the Forth and Clyde to Somerset and Kent ; 

 ascends to 1,500 ft. in Northumbd. ; fl. June-July. Rootstock elongate. 

 Stems 4-10 in., solitary, sheathed at the base. Leaves shorter than the stem, 

 grass-like, keeled. Bracts leafy, long or short. Spikes J-l| in. Spikelets 

 many, J in., pale brown. Bristles barbed. Fruit pale. DISTRIB. Europe 

 (excl. Spain, Greece), Siberia. 



14. S. ru'fus, Wahlb. ; leaves J-terete smooth, lowest glume not ribbed 

 equalling the spikelet. Blys'mus ru'fus, Link. 



Wet pastures, especially near the sea, from N. Wales and Lincoln to Shet- 

 land; N. Ireland; fl. July. Rootstvck creeping. Stems tufted, 3-12 in. 



