CLASS III. ORDER III. 21 



from sheaths which are perfectly entire or tubular, the part op- 

 posite the leaf ending in a rounded point. The lower leaves, 

 not the sheaths, are deciduous. Racemes mostly axillary. Pe- 

 duncle compressed, bearing from five to eight alternate, sessile, 

 narrow spikelets of about six flowers. Glumes two ranked. 

 Seeds surrounded witli hairs. — Borders of ponds and rivers. — 

 August. — Perennial. 



22. SCIRPUS. 

 § Subgenus Eleocharis. Seed surrounded with bristles — style 

 articulated to the seed, conical and persistent. 

 SciRPus TENUIS. Miihl. Slender Club rush. 



Culm filiform, quadrangular, leafless; spike termi- 

 nal, oval, acute at both ends; glumes obtuse ; sta- 

 mens three, styles three cleft. 



A slender, leafless, acute-angled species. — Common in wet 

 grounds and shallow water. — May, June. 



SciRPus PALusTRis. L. Marsh Club rush. 



Culm rounded, inflated ; spike terminal, oblique, 

 oblong, acute; glumes acute ; root creeping. 



Culms stout, slightly compressed, many from the same root, a 

 foot high, leafless, with blunt sheaths at base. Lower glumes 

 larger. — Wet meadows and ditches. — July. — Perennial. 

 SciRPus CAPiTATis. IVUld. Heodcd Club rush. 



Culm roundish ; spike terminal, roundish ovate, 

 obtuse, seed smooth. 



Distinguished from the foregoing by its obtuse and almost 

 globular heads. — Small ponds, &c. — July. 



SciRPus TRiCHODES. Muhl. Hair Club rush. 



Culm setaceous compressed, grooved ; spike termi- 

 nal, ovate, acute, naked, stamens three, style bifid. 



An exceedingly slender and hair-like species, three or four 

 inches high, related to .S. acicularis of Europe, and considered 

 by Dr. Torrey to be identical with it. — About shallow water. — 

 July. 



