692 OYPERA.CEiE bkiophoeum 



HEMICAHPHA 



brown, minutely apiculate. In high mountain bogs, Washington to 

 Alaska Newfoundland and Pennsylvania. 



B. Schenehzeri Hoppe Taschenb. 1800, 104. Stems slender, smooth, 

 nearly terete, 10-20 inches high, leafy below, often with a leafless sheath 

 above: leaves filiform, channelled, usually much shorter than the stem: 

 spikelet erect: scales ovate-lanceolate, long-acuminate, purple-brown, 

 membranaceous : bristles numerous, white or slightly yellowish, weak, 

 nearly straight, 4-5 times as long as the scale: achene narrowly oblong, 

 brown, acute and somewhat beaked. In bogs, Oregon to Alaska and 

 Newfoundland. 



E. rnsseolnm Fries Novet. Mant. ii, 67. Stems solitary or little 

 tufted, triangular, smooth, 8-20 inches high, leafy at base, bearing an in- 

 flated mucronate sheath above: leaves filiform, triangular, channelled, 

 mucronate, 1-4 inches long : spikelet erect : scales ovate -lanceolate, acu- 

 minate, thin, purplish-brown with narrow white margins : bristles numer- 

 ous, bright reddish brown, an inch or more long : achene oblong, narrowed 

 at each end, apiculate. In marshes, Oregon to Alaska and Newfoundland. 



* * Spikelets several, subtended by a 1-4-leaved involucre. 



E. polystachyon L, Sp. 52. Stems stiff, smooth, triangular above, 

 nearly terete below, 1-3 feet high, leafy : leaves flat, shorter than the stem, 

 1-4 lines wide, tapering to a triangular rigid point : involucre of 2-4 leaves, 

 commonly equalling or exceeding the inflorescence : spikelets 3-12, ovoid 

 or oblong, nodding, in a terminal more or less compound umbel; rays 

 filiform: scales ovate-lanceolate, acute, or acuminate, purple-green or 

 brown : bristles numerous, bright white, about an inch long: acbenea ob- 

 ovoid, obtuse, light brown. In bogs, Oregon to Alaska and the Atlantic 

 States : also in Europe and Asia. 



E. gracile Koch Roth. Catal. Bot. ii, 259. Stems slender, obtusely 

 3-angular, rough on the angles, 1-2 feet high, leafy : leaves narrowly linear, 

 about a line wide, triangular-channelled, rough-margined, shorter than 

 the stem : involucre commonly of a single stiS erect leaf : spikelets 3-8, 

 capitate or subumbellate, the longer-peduncled ones drooping : scales ovate 

 or oblong, obtuse or subacute, greenish-brown, the midrib rather strong: 

 bristles numerous, bright white, 8-12 lines long: achenes linear-oblong, 

 acute, pointed. In bogs, California to Alaska and across the Continent: 

 also in Europe and Asia. 



5 HEMICABPHA Nees & Am. Edinb. New Phil. Journ. xvii, 263. 



Low or dwarf setaceous annuals with flattened stems, somewhat 

 leafy at base, linear leaves and 1-3 small spikelets sessile in an 

 involucrate cluster. Scales spirally imbricated all around, de- 

 ciduous. Flowers perfect. Perianth of a single hyaline scale 

 between the rachis and the flower. Stamens 1-3. Style 2-cleft, 

 deciduous, not enlarged at base. Achenes oblong, turgid or 

 lenticular. 



H. snbsqnarrosa Nees in Mart. Fl. Bras, ii. Ft. 1, 61. Stems tufted, 

 numerous, 1-6 inches high, with brown sheaths at base : leaves 1 or 2, very 

 short, filiform: principal involucral bract continuous with the stem, 6-12 

 lines long, the others much smaller or wanting: spikes 1-3, brownish, 

 ovate, 1-1 j^ lines long: scales numerous, cuneate-obovate, shortly acumin- 

 ate and slightly spreading at the tip or erect, J^ line long, little exceeding 

 the obtuse nutlet. In moist sandy soil, Washington to Brazil and the 

 Atlantic States. 



H. occidentalis Gray Proc. Am. Acad, vii, 391. Stems filiform, 1-2 



