MAYACACEAE (MAYACA FAMILY) 



263 



5C3. X. llexuosa. 

 Lateral sepal x 3%. 



mm. broad ; heads subglobose, in fruit about 1 cm. in diameter ; seeds about 26- 

 fibbed. — Sandy shores, Md. (Canby), and southw. 



4. X. elata Chapin. 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. — 

 Wet places, chiefly in sandy soil, e. Mass. to 

 Minn., Tex., and S. C. Fig. 503. 



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

 Imear 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 

 about 10-12 mm. in diameter ; scales broadly ovate, green with 

 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 X. 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 

 bulb-like, surrounded by broad chestnut- 



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

 Lateral sepal x 3% former 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. (X. torta of auth., not Sm.) — 

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



564. X. Smalliana. 

 Lateral sepal x 3%. 



565. X. fimbriata. 

 Lateral sepal x 3%. 



MAYACACEAE (Mayaca Family) 



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

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

 flower, herbaceous calyx, white corolla, and a S-valved 1-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. 



