24 CLASS III. ORDER III. 



SciRPUs ERiopHORUM. Midi. Red Cotton grass. 



Culm obtiisel}' triangular, leafy; panicle decom- 

 pound, proliferous, nodding. 



Syn. Eriopiiorum cyperinu.m. L. and first edit. 

 Trichophorum cyferinum. Pers. 

 A common, rank, tall, meadoAV grass. Culm smooth, strong, 

 roundish, compressed on three sides. Leaves very long, rough 

 at the edge. Panicle terminal, umbelled, nodding, proliferous, 

 with a long leafy involucre. Spikelets in heads very numerous, 

 small, ovate, covered by the red, projecting, woolly hairs. — 

 August. — Perennial. 



(^^^^ Subgenus Isolepis. Seed naked at base — stijle simple, 

 not articulated, deciduous. 



SciRPus CAPiLLARis L. Capillary Club rush. 



Culm capillary, triangular ; spikes ovate, two or 

 three pedunculate and one sessile. 



A very delicate species, two or four inches high, sending up 

 many stems from a root. Leaves setaceous. Spikes somewhat 

 umbelled, oblong, reddish.— Dry, sandy fields. — August. 



SciRPus AUTUMNALis. L. Autumnal Club rush. 



Culm compressed ; ancipital ; umbel compound ; 

 spikes lanceolate, somewhat four sided. 



Grows in bunches from five to ten inches high. Leaves flat. 

 Involucre two leaved. Spikes crowded, a few together at the 

 ends of the umbel. — Muddy grounds. — August, October. 



23. ERIPHORUM. 

 Eriophorum alpixum. L. Alpine Cotton grass. 



Culm triangular, naked; leaves shorter than the 

 sheaths ; spike solitary, oblong ovate. 



A slender species, half a foot high with a single small spike, 

 to which is attached a thin tuft of white crisped hairs. When 

 young, it resembles Scirpus caespitosus. — On the White moun- 

 tains, N. H. — July. — Perennial. 



