188 FLORA. 



Scleria reticularis pubdscens Britton. Reticulations on the achene pubescent; 

 lateral clusters usually longer stalked. Conn, to Fla. and Cuba. 



Scleria reticularis obsciira Britton. Reticulations very obscure, the top of the 

 achene almost smooth. R. I. to N. Car. 



4. Scleria Torreyana Walp. TORREY'S NUT-RUSH. (I. F. f. 665.) Culms 

 weak, spreading or diffuse, 3-angled, nearly or quite smooth, 0.3-0.6 m. long. 

 Leaves linear, nearly flat, glabrous, 3-8 mm. wide, not exceeding the culm; spike- 

 lets in a loose terminal cluster, and 1-3 filiform-stalked axillary ones; bracts 

 glabrous; achene globose, somewhat pointed, nearly 2 mm. in diameter, irregularly 

 rugose with low ridges, the ridge^ usually pubescent, and connected by shorter 

 longitudinal ones; hypogynium 3-lobed, the lobes appressed to the base of the 

 achene. In moist soil, S. N. J. to Fla., Tex. and Mex. Also in Cuba. June-Aug. 



5. Scleria pauciflora Muhl. PAPILLOSE NUT-RUSH. (I. F. f. 666.) Root- 

 stocks hard, clustered ; culms slender, erect, usually tufted, 3-angled ; 2-5 dm. tall. 

 Leaves narrowly linear, less than 2 mm. wide, the upper elongated and often 

 overtopping the culm, their sheaths often densely puberulent ; spikelets in a small 

 terminal cluster and sometimes also in I or 2 axillary ones ; achene oblong or 

 globular, I mm. in diameter or rather more, crustaceous, papillose, the lower 

 papillae elongated and reflexed; hypogynium a narrow obtusely triangular border 

 supporting 6 small tubercles. In dry soil, N. H. to Ohio, Mo., Fla. and Tex. 

 Also in Cuba. June -Sept. 



6. Scleria verticillata Muhl. Low NUT-RUSH. (I. F. f. 667.) Roots fibrous ; 

 culms very slender or filiform, 3-angled, smooth or nearly so, erect, 1-5 dm. tall. 

 Leaves very narrowly linear, o. 5-1 mm. wide, erect, shorter than the culm ; spike- 

 lets in several separated clusters ; bracts bristle-like ; scales glabrous ; achene 

 globose, i mm. in diameter, crustaceous, marked by sharp distinct transverse ridges, 



, or somewhat reticulated ; hypogynium none. In moist meadows, E. Mass, to Ont. 

 and Mich., south to Fla., Tex. and Mex., and in the W. I. Plant, especially the 

 roots, fragrant in drying. July-Sept. 



17. ELYNA Schrad. 



Low tufted arttic and mountain sedges, with erect slender mostly leafless 

 culms, the narrowly linear leaves clustered at the base, and small 2-flowered spike- 

 lets in a narrow terminal cylindric spike. Scales of the spikelet 3 or 4, distinct, 

 usually only one of them flower-bearing ; the staminate flower of 3 stamens, the 

 pistillate of a single pistil. Bristles or perianth wanting. Style slender, 3-cleft, 

 not jointed to the oblong ovary. Achene obtusely 3-angled, sessile. [Greek, sig- 

 nifying covering, perhaps in allusion to the overlapping scales.] Four or five 

 species ol the arctic and alpine regions of the northern hemisphere. 



i. Elyna Bellardi (All.) C. Koch. (I. F. f. 668.) Culms very slender, 

 1-4.5 dm. ta ^> longer than the very narrow leaves. Old sheaths fibrillose, brown; 

 margins of the leaves more or less revolute; spike subtented by a short bract, or 

 bractless, densely flowered or sometimes interrupted below, 1.5-3 cm. long, 3-4 mm. 

 in diameter; aclienes rather less than 2 mm. long, i mm. thick, appressed. In 

 arctic America from Greenl. to Bering Sea, south in the Rocky Mountains to Colo. 

 Also Li Europe and Asia. Summer. 



18. KOBRESIA VVilld. (See Appendix.) 



Slender arctic and mountain sedges, with erect culms leafy below, and few-several- 

 flowered spikelets clustered in a terminal spike. Scales of the spikelets i-flowered. 

 the lower usually pistillate, and the upper staminate. Stamens 2-3. Perianth- 

 bristles or perigynium wanting. Ovary oblong, narrowed into a short style; stigmas 

 2-3 linear. Achene obtusely angled, sessile. [In honor of Von Kobres, a 

 naturalist of Augsburg.] Three or four species, widely distributed in arctic and 

 mountainous regions. 



I. Kobresia bipartita (All.) Britton. (I. F. f. 669.) Culms solitary or tufted, 

 smooth or very nearly so, 1-3 dm. tall. Leaves about i mm. wide, infolded at 

 least in drying, the old sheaths becoming fibrillose; spike 3 cm. long or less, com- 

 posed of several or numerous linear appressed or ascending spikelets; scales some- 

 what serrulate on the keel, rather more than i mm. long; mature achenes slightly 



