262 NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF JUNCUS. 
Var. a. genuwinus: caule humiliore LLRs ultrapedali, rarissime elatiori) foliisque tenuibus ; spatha erecta 
penienlam subsimplicem coarctatam (raro capitulum sehen superante; capitulis sirkegpe pluri-(8~20)floris ; 
floribus minoribus fuscatis; sepalis he equalibus seu exterioribus paulo brevioribus ; antheris oblongis seu 
oblongo-linearibus phictizaciic apiculatis filamento mene ibus; ovario ovato stylo erent coronato ; capsula ovato- 
lanceolata rostrata plus minus exserta 
ar. 8. Texanus: caule elatiore (pedali bipedali) foliisque tenuibus ; spatha patente paniculam plerumque 
compositam decompositamve fere equante ; capitulis majoribus multi-(15-40)floris ; floribus majoribus demum stra- 
mineis ; sepalis lanceolato-subulatis exterioribus sn thereat ; antheris linearibus obtusis filamento (hinc duplo) longi- 
oribus; ovario lanceolato in stylum longiorem sensim abeunte ; capsula pyramidato-lanceolata subulata exserta. 
. >: sphalus, Torr. 1. c.; caule elatiore pate tripedali) foliisque robustis ; spatha erecta seu 
aulo defler foliove summo paniculam subsimplicem coarctatam sepius superante ; capitulis magnis aero [472] 
multi-(30-80)floris ; floribus majoribus virescentibus demum stramineis ; sepalis lanceolato-subulatis exterio 
ibus longioribus; antheris linearibus filamento paulo brevioribus; ovario lanceolato in stylum re sensim 
abeunte ; capsula pyramidato-subulata vix exserta. —J. megacephalus, Wood, Bot. 724, non Curtis. 
is species takes a much wider geographical range than the last, including the whole of North America north 
of Mexico, with the exclusion of the southeastern States ; but the different forms occupy different geographical regions. 
Var. a. is found throughout British North America from Canada and the Hudson Bay regions to the Rocky Moun- 
tains and the northwest coast, and extends southward to Pennsylvania, Porter, Hb. norm. 70, Ohio, Lapham, Michigan, 
Bigelow, Hb. norm. 71, and Wisconsin, Lapham, Hale. I have seen no specimens from further south, though the older 
authors credit it to Virginia and Carolina, quoting, among others, Bosc as their authority. Var. 8. has been solely 
found in Western Texas, Lindheimer, 545, Wright, Buckley. Var. y. meets a. on Lake Ontario, where also J. alpinus 
and articulatus join, and extends from thence westward to Michigan, Bigelow, Hb. norm. 74, and southwestward to 
Illinois, Missouri, the northern Red River, Hubbard, the Saskatchawan, Bourgeau, the Yellowstone, Hayden, Colorado, 
Parry, Hb. norm. 75 (a dwarfed form), New Mexico, Fendler, 849 Wright, 696 and 1926, Texas, Lindheimer, 546, and 
others ; and to Arizona, Coues & Palmer, and California, Coulter, 809. It flowers from July to August. 
Our plant is very closely allied to the last, and is often confounded with it; but the number of stamens and the 
markings of the seeds will readily distinguish any of the forms which may be mistaken for one another, e. g. J. scir- 
poides, B. echinatus, and J. nodosus, y. megacephalus. Besides, the slender stolons which terminate in a sia of small 
bulbs, probably the only part that sustains the life of the plant during winter, are quite characteristic of all the forms 
of this species. Another peculiarity of var. 8. and y. is the direction of the leaves, oe the upper ones, which are 
patulous, making a very distinct angle with their sheathing base, while in var. a. the leaves are erect, forming an 
almost straight continuation of the sheath. Var. a. and more rarely var. y. exhibit sine a that degeneration of the 
heads into bunches of sheaths or leaves which has been spoken of in another place. The seeds are 0.22-0.27 line long, 
the length being nearly equal to 2, rarely to 2} diameters; commonly 8 ribs are visible on one side. 
The northern form, var. a., - the genuine J. nodosus of Linneus, who described it from specimens sent by Kalm 
(most probably from Canada), as Prof. Gray ascertained in the Linnzan herbarium itself. He informs me that 
“ Linnzeus’ reference to Gronov. ties ted 152] is a mistake, in copying from Gronovius of Gramen junceum [473] 
elatius pericarpiis ovatis Americanum, Pluk. alm. That this is not the type of J. nodosus is se i 
does not, like all other Gronovian <n appear in the first edition of Spec. Plant. Leunvier annotations prove 
that he was considering some plant in his herbarium, and not a mere quotation.” The figure of Rostkovius is a very 
representation of the ordinary appearance of this variety. — It is by far the slenderest form, usually from 8-12 or 
15 inches high, with 2-5 or 8 brown heads in a rather compact and simple or slightly compound panicle ; in the 
Rocky Mountains a dwarf form occurs, with a filiform stem 3-5 inches high, bearing a single few-flowered head 
(J. polycephalus, y., Hook. 1. ¢.) ; a similar variety was collected on the mountains of Vermont by H. Mann, Hb. norm. 
72; Judge Clintonand Dr. Bigelow, Hb. norm. 73, send from the shores of the northern lakes a taller form, 2-3 feet high, 
with a more compound lighter coldéred panicle ; and this makes a transition to one which Dr. Vasey has sent from the 
northern border of Illinois, a stout, large (nearly 2 feet high) green-headed plant, with a decompound panicle of at 
least 30 greenish heads, each composed of 25-35 flowers. This latter is an interesting form, as it connects all three 
varieties. — The heads of the genuine J. nodosus are 3}—4 lines in diameter, and show a deeper brown color than any 
of the other varieties; the flowers are 14-2 lines long, and the capsule, which is usually rostrate from an oblong body 
and not regularly eebulete, in most instances considerably exceeds the sepals. The seeds are, as in all other forms of 
this species, ovate or obovate, abruptly apiculate, and prettily reticulated with very distinct cross-lineolation, 0.22- 
0.27 line long, their diameter being equal to about one-half their length, or, in some forms with slender seeds, much 
less. 
Var. 8. is usually a taller plant, 12-20 inches high, but quite slender ; the compound or decompound rather lax 
panicle is 2-4 inches long, and the echinate fruit- it heads have a diameter of 5 or 6 lines. Flowers 2} lines long ; obtuse 
anthers often twice as long as the filaments ; seeds usually a little smaller than in the last, 0.22-0.24 line long. 
