Genus 3. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



13. Eleocharis Smallii Britton. Small's Spike- 

 rush. Fig. 770. 



E. Smallii Britton, Torreya 3 : 23. 1903. 



Perennial by rootstocks; culms rather stout, about 

 2° high, and i"-ii" thick; top of the basal sheath ob- 

 lique ; spikelet cylindric to conic-cylindric, acute, about 

 8" long, about as thick as the culm; scales lanceolate- 

 oblong, acuminate; bristles very slender, equalling 

 the achene and tubercle or a little longer; achene 

 dark brown, obovate, turgid-lenticular, somewhat 

 shining, nearly 1" long, rounded at the top, the 

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

 as long as the achene and about one-half as wide, 

 rather abruptly tipped. 



Valley of the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania. 

 Sept. 



Aug.- 



14. Eleocharis acicularis (L.) R. & S. Needle, or Least, Spike-rush. Fig. 771. 



Scirpus acicularis L. Sp. PI. 48. 1753. 

 Eleocharis acicularis R. & S. Syst. 2: 154. 1817. 



Perennial by filiform stolons or rootstocks, 

 culms tufted, finely filiform or -setaceous, ob- 

 scurely 4-angled and grooved, weak, erect or 

 reclining, 2'-8' long. Sheaths truncate; spikelet 

 compressed, narrowly ovate or linear-oblong, 

 acute, broader than the culm, 3-10-flowered, 

 1V-3" long, i" wide; scales oblong, obtuse or 

 the upper subacute, thin, pale green, usually with 

 a narrow brown band on each side of the midvein, 

 deciduous, many of them commonly sterile; 

 bristles 3-4, fragile, fugacious, shorter than the 

 achene; stamens 3; style 3-cleft; achene obovoid- 

 oblong, pale, obscurely 3-angled with a rib on 

 each angle and 6-9. lower intermediate ribs con- 

 nected by fine ridges; tubercle conic, acute, one- 

 fourth as long as the achene. 



In wet soil, Newfoundland to British Columbia, 

 New Jersey, Missouri, Mexico and California. Also 

 in Europe and Asia. Sometimes entirely sterile. 

 July-Sept. 



15. Eleocharis Wolfii A. Gray. Wolf's Spike- 

 rush. Fig. 772. 



Scirpus Wolfii A. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 10: 77. 1874. 

 Eleocharis Wolfii A. Gray ; Britton, Journ. N. Y. Micros. 

 Soc. 5: 105. 1889. 



Perennial by short rootstocks, culms very slender, 

 erect, flattened and 2-edged, 8'-i8' tall. Upper sheath 

 oblique, scarious, hyaline-tipped; spikelet oblong or 

 ovoid-oblong, terete, acute, thicker than the culm, 

 2"-3" long, nearly 1" in diameter; scales ovate, obtuse 

 or the upper acute, thin, pale green with purplish- 

 brown bands, tardily deciduous; bristles none (or 

 perhaps early deciduous); style 3-cleft; achene obo- 

 void, obscurely 3-angled, longitudinally 9-ribbed, the 

 ribs transversely connected by minute ridges ; tubercle 

 depressed-conic, much shorter than the achene. 



In wet meadows, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa. June- 

 Aug. 



