CYPERACE^. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 369 



flatteued tuberculate base persistent and mostly jointed upon the summit of 

 the turgid-triangular or lenticular akene. — Stems tufted, from matted or 

 creeping rootstocks, terete or angular, tlie base covered with closely appressed 

 sheaths : lower scale of the spikelet sometimes enlarged and bract-like. 



* Sj)ike small and few-flowered, the scales somewhat distichous or onlij 3-ranked : 



style 3-cleJl and akene triangular. 

 ■•- Tubercle contracted at its junction icith the akene. 



1. E. aeieularis, R. Br. Stems with fibrous roots and very slender run 

 ning rootstocks, usually setaceous, 1 to 8 inches high : spike 3 to 9-flowered : 

 scales acutish, more or less deeply tinged with brown : l)ristles 3 or 4, often 

 wanting: akene oblong-obovate, obscurely triangular and faintly ribbed on 

 the sides; tubercle broad, short and blunt. — On sandy or muddy stream- 

 banks across the continent. 



•*- -1- Tubercle continuous with the aJcene and not contracted at base. 



2. E. paueiflora, Watson. Stems from slender running rootstocks, 3 to 

 8 inches high, striate : spike ovate-oblong : scales acute, dark brown : bristles 

 3 to 6, usually equalling the akene : akene oblong-obovate, obtusely triangular ; 

 tubercle rather stout, pyramidal, nearly a third as long as the akene. — Bot. 

 Calif, ii. 221. Scirpns pauciflorus, Lightfoot, Gray's Manual, 560. From 

 Colorado and Wyoming to the N. Atlantic States ; also in California. 



* * Spike terete, many-flowered : tubercle somewhat contracted at its junction with 



the akene : style 2-cleft and akene lenticular. 



3. E. palustris, R. Br. Stems usually slender, terete, striate, ^ to 4 feet 

 high : spike oblong-lanceolate to linear, acute, 3 to 12 lines long: scales obtuse or 

 the upper acutish, thin, brown with ichite margin and greenish keel : bristles 4, 

 about equalling the akene: akene obovate, turgid, smooth ; tubercle broad-deltoid, 

 acutish or acute, rarely acuminate. — Throughout the continent, and in most 

 parts of the Old World. 



4. E. olivaeea, Torr. Stems very slender and spreading, 1 to 6 inches 

 high : spike ovate or oblong-ovate, 1 to 3 lines long : scales obtuse, rather loosely 

 imbricated, purple with a green midrib : bristles 6 or 8, longer than the akene : 

 akene and tubercle as in the last. — Colorado, Montana, and Oregon; also on 

 the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast. 



5. E. COmpressa, Sulliv. Stem flat, striate, 1 to 2 feet high : spike ovate 

 oblong, at length lanceolate, 4 to 7 lines long : scales acuta, dark purple icith 

 broad white pellucid margins: bristles 1 to 4 (or none), very slender and fragile, 

 shorter than or equalling the akene: akene obovate-pear-shapedf compressed ; tuber- 

 cle stnall, conical, pointed. — Gray's Manual, 558. 



6. FIMBRISTYLIS, Vahl. 



Scales closely imbricated around the rhachis. Styles 2 to 3-cleft, often flat- 

 tened and ciliute, somewhat dilated at ba.>^e. Akene lenticular or triangular, 

 usually attenuate at base or substipitate. — In ours the style is 2-cleft and the 

 akene lenticular. 



1. F. spadicea, Vahl. Stems 1 to 2^ feet high, from a perennial root, 

 iigid,as are thefllifonn convolute-channelled leaves : spikes ovate-oblong, becom- 



S4 



