SEDGE FAMILY 



523 



** Spikdets I- or lew-ftnwered ; flo;cei:s perject 



6. Rhynchospora. — Spikelets clustered in heads, terete ; 

 perianth of 6 included bristles ; nut beaked. 



7. ScHCENUS. — Spikelets in compact terminal heads, com- 

 pressed; glumes in 2 rows; perianth of few bristles, or absent; 

 nut not beaked. 



8. Cladiu.m. — Spikelets terete ; perianth absent ; nut blunt, 

 with a fleshy coat. 



*** Spikelets I — 2-flowered ; flowers nionceiions ; perianth absent 



9. Kobresia. — Upper flower in each spikelet staminate, lower 

 carpellate ; ovary enclosed by a glume. 



**** Spikelets many-flowered ; flowers' imperjeet 



10. Carex. — Glumes imbricate ; ovary enclosed m a persistent 

 bottle-shaped utricle. 



I. Cyperus (Galingale). — Stems triangular*; spikelets many, 

 compressed, in terminal or lateral bracteate heads or compound 

 umbels; glumes numerous; distichous, deciduous, each, except 

 the outermost, containing a perfect flower; perianth absent. 

 (Name from the Greek kupeiros, a reed.) 



1. C. juscus (Brown Cyperus). — Stems short,: tufted, grass-like, 

 2 — 10 in. high ; spikelets flattened, blunt, not more than ^ in. 

 long, in a compact umbel, with 3 unequal, le"af-like bracts, i- — 4 

 in. long ; glumes brown, with green keels. ^^^'et meadows in 

 Middlesex, Surrey, and the Channel Islands. — Fl. August, 

 September. Annual. 



2. C, longus (Sweet Galingale). — A tall, stout plant, 2 — 4 feet 

 high, with a few leaves at the base of the stem ; spikelets numerous 

 in a yery large, loose, unequally-rayed, compound umbel, \vith 

 2 — 3 long, leafy bracts ; glumes numerous, blunt, reddish-brown, 

 with green keels and pale margins. — Wet meadows in the south 

 of England ; rare. The aromatic rhizome was formerly much 

 esteemed as a tonic. — Fl. August, September. Perennial. 



2. Eleocharis (Spike-rush). — Tufted, glabrous herbs with 

 slender stems ; solitary, terminal spikelets; glumes numerous, im- 

 bricate, nearly all containing perfect flowers ; perianth of 3 — 6 

 short bristles ; nut compressed, tipped with the persir^tent base of 

 the style. (Name from the Greek helos^ a marsh, eluiiro, I 

 rejoice.) 



I. E. acietdaris (Least Spike-rush).— A slender, tufted plant; 

 7-/iizojne slender, creeping ; sterns subulate, 2^-4, or even 12 in. 



