CYPERACEiE. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 531 



§ 1. SCLERIA Peoper. Nut supported hy an annular or 3 - 6-lohed disk. 

 * Nut smooth : stamens 3. 



1. S. trigloiuerata, Michx. Culms stoat, rough, sharply- angled (2° - 3° 

 high); leaves broadly linear, smooth or hairy ; spikes disposed in 3 - 6 clusters 

 at the summit of the culm, and 1-2 distant lateral ones on long and drooping 

 peduncles ; disk forming a complete narrow ring at the base of the globose- 

 ovate yellowish white nut. — Low grounds, Florida, and northward. June- 

 Angust, 



2. S. oligantha. Ell., Mlchx. ? Culms (l°-2° high) slender, smooth, 

 sharply angled, often glaucous, like the smooth linear leaves; spikes 3-5, sin- 

 gle, scattered, forming a terminal interrupted compound spilce, and 1-2 distant 

 lateral ones, on long drooping peduncles ; bracts leafy ; disk of 9 minute globular 

 lobes at the base of the white and polished ovate nut. — Thickets and margins of 

 fields, Florida to South Carolina. July. 



* * Nut reticulated: disk of 3 flattened lobes : stamens 2. 



3. S. reticularis, Michx. Culms slender (1°-1|^° high), scabrous below; 

 leaves narrowly linear ; spikes clustered, axillary and terminal, the lateral ones on 

 a short erect peduncle ; nut globose, small, reticulated and pitted ; lobes of the 

 disk appressed to the base of the nut. — Margins of ponds, Florida, and north- 

 ward. Aug. and Sept. 



4. S. laxa, Torr. Culms weak, rough on the angles ; leaves linear, obtuse ; 

 spikes separate, the axillaryones on a long and drooping peduncle ; nut globose, 

 wrinkled and somewhat hairy, obscurely pitted ; lobes of the disk appressed to 

 the nut. (S. reticularis, -E//.) — Damp pine barrens, Florida, and northward. 

 Aug.-Oct. — Culms 1°-1^° long. Nut 1^"- 2" in diameter. 



* * * J^iit warti/ : disk bearing 3-6 globular lobes : stamens 3. 



5. S. ciliata, Michx. Culms slender, rigid (1^°- 2° high), smooth below, 

 sparingly fringed on the angles above ; leaves 2, narrowly linear (1" wide), rigid, 

 smooth, or with scattered hairs on the margins ; sheaths pubescent ; clusters ter- 

 minal ; sterile spikes large, many-flowered ; nut globose, pointed, closely beset 

 with unequal warts, these corresponding to the angles of the nut and at the 

 base larger than the rest ; lobes of the disk 3, globular, entire. — Dry pine bar- 

 rens. Florida to South Carolina. June - Aug. — Khizoma thick and creeping. 



6. S. EUiottii. Culms stout (J°-l° high), densely rough-fringed on the 

 angles throughout ; leaves 3-4, brpadly linear (2"-3" wide), closely fringed on 

 the margins and midrib beneath ; sheaths pubescent ; clusters 2, the lateral one 

 remote, on a short erect peduncle ; sterile spike small, few-flowered ; nut globose, 

 deeply wrinkled or pitted, and with slender warty projections at the base ; lobes 

 of the disk 3, globose, 2-lobed. (S. hirtella. Ell., Michx. ? not of Swartz.) — 

 Low pine barrens, Florida to North Carolina. July. 



7. S. pauciflora, Muhl. Smoothish or hairy or villous throughout ; 

 culms (6' - 12' high) slender ; leaves narrowly linear ; clusters small, of 1 -few 

 spikes, terminal, and also a remote axillary one on a short erect peduncle ; ster- 

 ile spike few-flowered ; nut globose (small), pointed, closely beset with minute 



