23 



AN UNDESCRIBED ELEOCHARIS FROM 

 PENNSYLVANIA 



By N. L. Britton 



Eleocharis Smallii 



Culms rather stout, about 6 dm. high and 2-3 mm. thick: 

 summit of the basal sheath oblique : spikelet cylindric, acute, 

 about 1.5 cm. long, as thick as the culm : scales narrowly lan- 

 ceolate-oblong, acuminate ; achene dark brown, obovate, turgid- 

 lenticular, somewhat shining, 1.5 mm. long, rounded at the top; 

 tubercle bulb-like, constricted at the base, one fourth as long as 



P'lG. I. Eleocharis palustris. 



Fig. 2. Eleocharis Smallii. 



the achene and about one half as wide, rather abruptly tipped : 

 bristles very slender, retrorsely barbed, equalling the achene and 

 tubercle or a little longer. 



Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, J. K. Small, September, 1893 

 (type) ; McCall's Ferry, York County, Pennsylvania, J. K. 

 Small, September 26, 1891. 



The accompanying figures show the relationship of the species 

 to Eleocharis palustris ; the drawings of E. palustris are from a 

 specimen collected by Meisner at Schopf heim, Bavaria ; those 

 of E. Smallii are from the type specimen in the Herbarium of 

 Columbia University. 



