CYPERACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY') 



195 



304. S cyperinus. 



2-7 ; scales olilong-ovate, acutish or obtuse, blackish- 

 ferruginous above the pale base ; achene soft, whitish, 

 oblong. — Meadows and bogs, N. H., Vt., and n. N. Y. 

 July, Aug. Fig. 303. 



32. S. cyperinus (L.) Kunth. (Wool Grass.) Culm 

 nearly terete (1-1.5 m. high) ; leaves narrowly linear, 



long, rigid, those of the involucre 

 3-5, longer than the loose umbel 

 (1.5-3 dm. long), the tips of the 

 rays at length drooping ; involucels 

 reddish-brown ; spikelets exceedingly 

 numerous, ovoid, clustered, woolly ^' •^*^^''"- 



at maturity (3-6 mm. long) ; the rust-colored bristles much 

 longer than the pointless reddish-brown scales; achene 

 short-pointed. {Eriophorum L.) — Wet meadows and 

 swamps, N. E. to Va., Tenn., and Ark. Aug., Sept. Fig. 

 304. Var. ANDREwsiiFernald. Involucels reddish-brown ; 

 spikelets cylindric, 7-10 mr.i. long. — Local, Ct. 



Var. pelius Fernald. Involucels blackish at base; 

 bristles drab or smoke-color. — The common form northw. ; 

 Kfd. to Ont., s. to Ct., N. Y., and Mich. — Perhaps dis- 

 tinct. Var. condensAtus Fernald. Similar, but with 

 rays all or nearly all abbreviated, the glomerules in dense 

 irregular masses. — Local, range of last. Aug. -Oct. 



33. S. Eri6phorum Michx. Coarse and tall (1-2 m.) ; the culm 2.5-6 mm. 

 thick below the ample (1.5-3 dm. high) iutlorescence ; leaves pale green, firm, 

 6-11 mm. broad; rays very elongate, mostly ascending, drooping at tip; the 

 involucels deep red-brown or terra-cotta ; spikelets ovoid, 3-6 mm. long, the 

 lateral pediceled ; scales red-brown ; wool slightly paler. — Mostly near the coast, 

 Ct. to Fla., La., and Ark. July-Sept. 



34. S. pedicellatus Fernald. Similar; the culm rather stout (2-4 mm. 

 thick below the inflorescence; ; leaves pale green, firm, 3-10 

 mm. broad; inflorescence ample, 1-2.5 dm. high, the numerous 

 ascending subequal rays very slender, with nodding tips ; 

 involucels brown to dull straw-color ; spikelets 3-6 mm. long ; 

 scales pale brown; wool whitish-broicn. — Alluvial thickets 

 and swamps, e. Que. to Ct., N. Y., and Wis., mostly in the 

 interior. July, Aug. Fig. 305. — Ordinarily very distinct, 

 occasionally approaching the preceding or the following as in 

 Var. PULLus Fernald. Spikelets dull brown or drab, 7-10 mm. 

 long. —Local, and perhaps as nearly related to the next (including S. atrocinc- 

 tus, var. grandis Fernald). 



35. S. atroclnctus Fernald. Slender (0.5-1.2 m. high); the culm 1-2 mm. 

 in diameter below the inflorescence ; leaves bright green, rather soft, 2-5 mm. 

 broad; inflorescence 0.5-1.8 dm. high, the slender rays very unequal ; involucels 

 and base of involucre black; spikelets 2.5-6 mm. long, mostly pediceled; scales 

 greenish-black; wool drab or olive-brown. — Meadows and swamps, abundant 

 northw. ; Nfd. to Hudson Bay and Sask., s. to Ct., Pa., Mich., and la. June, 

 July (Aug. in colder regions). Var. brachypodus Fernald. Spikehts on 

 shortened pedicels, in irregular dense clusters; rays usually much reduced. 

 — Frequently occupying large areas, especially northw. and at higher altitudes 

 than the typical form. 



305. S. pedicellatus. 



10. ERI6pH0RUM L. Cotton Grass 



Bristles naked, very numerous, silky and becoming greatly elongated. Other- 

 wise as in Scirpus. — Spikelets single or clustered or umbellate, when involu- 

 crate with leaf-like bracts, upon a leafy or naked stem ; scales membranaceous, 

 1-5-nerved, some of the lowest usually empty. Style very slender and elongated, 



