CYPERACE^E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 531 



1. SCLERIA PROPER. Nut supported by an annular or 3- 6-lobed disk. 

 * Nut smooth : stamens 3. 



1. S. triglomerata, Michx. Culms stout, rough, sharply angled (2 -3 

 high); leaves broadly linear, smooth or hairy ; spikes disposed in 3 - 6 clusters 

 at the summit of the culm, and 1-2 distant lateral ones on long and drooping 

 peduncles ; disk forming a complete narrow ring at the base of the globose- 

 ovate yellowish white nut. Low grounds, Florida, and northward. June- 

 August. 



2. S. oligantha, Ell., Michx.? Culms (l-2 high) slender, smooth, 

 sharply angled, often glaucous, like the smooth linear leaves ; spikes 3-5, sin- 

 gle, scattered, forming a terminal interrupted compound spike, and 1-2 distant 

 lateral ones, on long drooping peduncles ; bracts leafy ; disk of 9 minute globular 

 lobes at the base of the white and polished ovate nut. Thickets and margins of 

 fields, Florida to South Carolina. July. 



* * Nut reticulated: disk of 3 flattened lobes : stamens 2. 



3. S. reticularis, Michx. Culms slender (1 - 1 high), scabrous below ; 

 leaves narrowly linear ; spikes clustered, axillary and terminal, the lateral ones on 

 a short erect peduncle ; nut globose, small, reticulated and pitted ; lobes of the 

 disk appressed to the base of the nut. Margins of ponds, Florida, and north- 

 ward. Aug. and Sept. 



4. S. laxa, Torr. Culms weak, rough on the angles j leaves linear, obtuse ; 

 spikes separate, the axillary ones on a long and drooping peduncle ; nut globose, 

 wrinkled and somewhat hairy, obscurely pitted ; lobes of the disk appressed to 

 the nut. (S. reticularis, Ell.) Damp pine barrens, Florida, and northward. 

 Aug. - Oct. Culms 1 - 1 long. Nut l" - 2" in diameter. 



* =* * Nut warty : disk bearing 3-6 globular lobes : stamens 3. 



5. S. ciliata, Michx. Culms slender, rigid (l- 2 high), smooth below, 

 sparingly fringed on the angles above ; leaves 2, narrowly linear (1" wide), rigid, 

 smooth, or with scattered hairs on the margins ; sheaths pubescent ; clusters ter- 

 minal ; sterile spikes large, many-flowered ; nut globose, pointed, closely beset 

 with unequal warts, these corresponding to the angles of the nut and at the 

 base larger than the rest ; lobes of the disk 3, globular, entire. Dry pine bar- 

 rens. Florida to South Carolina. June - Aug. Rhizoma thick and creeping. 



6. S. Elliottii. Culms stout (-l high), densely rough-fringed on the 

 angles throughout ; leaves 3-4, broadly linear (2" -3" wide), closely fringed on 

 the margins and midrib beneath ; sheaths pubescent ; clusters 2, the lateral one 

 remote, on a short erect peduncle ; sterile spike small, few-flowered ; nut globose, 

 deeply wrinkled or pitted, and with slender warty projections at the base ; lobes 

 of the disk 3, globose, 2-lobed. (S. hirtella, Ell, Michx. ? not of Swartz.) 

 Low pine barrens, Florida to North Carolina. July. 



7. S. paucifiora, Muhl. Smoothish or hairy or villous throughout; 

 culms (6'- 12' high) slender; leaves narrowly linear; clusters small, of 1 -few 

 spikes, terminal, and also a remote axillary one on a short erect peduncle ; ster- 

 ile spike few-flowered ; nut globose (small), pointed, closely beset with minute 



