MAYACACEAE (MAYACA FAMILY) 263 



mm. broad ; heads subglobose, in fruit about 1 cm. in diameter ; seeds about 25- 

 ribbed. Sandy shores, Md. (Canby}, and southw. 



4. X. elata Chapm. Tall (4-8 dm. high) ; leaves grass-like (2-4 dm. long), 

 linear or gladiate from broadened strongly equitant bases ; scape slender, only 

 moderately compressed, ancipital but not winged ; heads ellip- 

 soidal or subcylindric, 1.4-3 cm. long ; floriferous scales numer- 

 ous, suborbicular. Sandy shores, Va. to Fla. and Miss. 



5. X. flexubsa Muhl. Leaves narrowly linear, pale green, 

 thickish, twisted, from a small bulb-like base ; stipe 3-6 dm. 

 high, twisted and flexuous, slightly compressed toward the 

 summit, not winged ; head subglobose, about 1 cm. in diameter ; 

 scales suborbicular, pale brown, the greenish area small and ill- 

 defined ; lateral sepals ciliolate on the keel. 563 x flexuosa 

 Wet places, chiefly in sandy soil, e. Mass, to Lat eral sepal x 3% 

 Minn., Tex., and S. C. FIG. 563. 



6. X. Smalliana Nash. Tall (4-9 dm. high) ; leaves broadly 

 linear or sword-shaped, 2.5-6 dm. long, often nearly 2 cm. broad 

 at the equitant and commonly proliferous base, neither twisted 

 nor flexuous ; scape rather slender, straight, compressed near 

 the summit ; heads obovoid or ovoid-ellipsoidal, at maturity 



564 X Smalliana about 1- 12 mm - in diameter ; scales broadly ovate, green with 



1 "' a stramineous or pale-brown border ; lateral sepals long and 



*** narrow, erose-lacerate on the usually narrow wing ; seeds for 



the genus long, subcylindric, regularly ribbed, pale in color. Chiefly on boggy 



shores rich in decaying vegetation, often in water, e. Mass. 



to Fla. The northern form, which has the lateral sepals a 



little less lacerate on the keel, has been published as JT. Cong- 



doni Small. FIG. 564. 



7. X. fimbriata Ell. Tall, strict; leaves 

 broadly linear, straight; scape straight or 

 nearly so, 5-8 dm. high, compressed and 

 roughened on the edges toward the summit; 

 heads ellipsoidal, about 12-15 mm. in diameter, 

 nearly 2 cm. long ; fringed sepals conspicuous, 

 nearly twice as long as the bracts. Pine- 

 barrens, N. J. to Fla. and Miss. FIG. 565. ,,. 



8. X. arenicola Small. Base thick and T ~ 

 bulb-like, surrounded by broad chestnut- L 



566 X arenicola colored scales, the enlarged and hardened persistent bases of 

 Lateral sepal x 3V form er leaves ; slender stipe and very narrow thickish leaves 

 ; ' twisted and flexuous ; head cylindric, 1-2.5 cm. long, acutish, 

 8-10 mm. thick; fringed sepals conspicuous. (JT. torta of auth., notSm.) 

 Pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla. and Miss. FIG. 566. 



MAYACACEAE (MAYACA FAMILY) 



Moss-like aquatic plants, densely leafy, with narrowly linear sessile pellucid 

 leaves, axillary naked peduncles terminated by a solitary perfect S-androus 

 flower, herbaceous calyx, white corolla, and a 3-valved l-celled several-seeded 

 capsule. A single genus. 



1. MAYACA Aublet. 



Perianth persistent, of 3 herbaceous lanceolate sepals, and 3 obovate petals. 

 Stamens alternate with the petals. Ovary with 3 parietal few-ovuled placentae ; 

 style filiform ; stigma simple. Creeping or floating in shallow water ; leaves 

 entire, minutely notched at the tip ; peduncle solitary, sheathed at base. (An 

 aboriginal name.) 



1. M. Aubleti Michx. Peduncles deflexed in fruit ; capsules about 9-seeded. 

 (M. Michauxii Schott & Endl.) Va. and O. to Fla. and Tex. 



