228 AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 
Petiole 1-3 cm. long. Surface of the leaves minutely strigulose 
with white rather long hairs, often appearing fine and silky even 
under the lens. Midrib minutely scabrous to appressed hirtellous, 
or appressed muriculate. Leaves 8-22 dm. long and never more 
than 4.7 cm. wide, the longer leaves rather often .comparatively 
less wide than the upper shorter ones. Young leaves appressed 
silky canescent, or sometimes glabrate; sometimes the older 
leaves, and the ochreae always appressed hirtellous. Nodes slightly 
swollen: peduncles very slender minutely glandular pubescent 
sometimes pubescent upward, 5-10 cm. long: spikes 5—6 cm. long, 
lanceolate in flower, linear in fruit, the rose-red flowers blooming in 
consecutive series gradually spreading upward, so that the flowers 
appear sometimes in 2-3 circles giving the splke an attenuate 
appearance in the middle. About three sets of spikes in twos 
are produced in a season, a new branch ending in the new inflores- 
cence appearing in turn from the axil of one of the upper leaves. 
The peduncle enlarges in fruit and all the parts of the spike except 
the tawny hirtellous bracts are soon dehiscent. Bracts triangular 
ovate, and ciliate with long brownish hairs. Flowers perfectly 
funnelform, rose-red, the calyx becoming dark purple to carmine 
in fruit. Calyx attenuate below the seed in fruit shining black 
lenticular flatter on one side. Flowers rather loosely aggregated 
in the spikes early in the season. Stamens with rose-red, exserted, 
versatile anthers, longer then the red, globular-tipped, coetaneously 
exserted styles which are divided to below the middle. 
It would seem that the first spike of the season, as also the 
aquatic spikes, are quite uniformly sterile. It is not quite certain 
whether the plant is to be referred to the emersa group or to the 
following, but it seems quite safe to put it as next of kin to the 
following plant to be described, as also next to P. mesochora. 
Though I have visited its habitat in early summer I have been 
unable to find any trace whatever of borders to the ochrea tips. 
In shape of leaves it shows kinship to P. mesochora, or even P. 
ammophila for that matter, though the spikes differ much from 
those of the latter. If the plants ever even in the spring terrestrial 
phase have the herbaceous borders of the ochrea, they are vestigial, 
and soon disappear, even sooner than in the two following plants, 
where such structures may be found occasionally even at blooming 
time in sterile specimens. I have found plants with traces of 
borders at Millers early in the season which certainly were not 
