34§ 



CYPERACEAE. 



Vol. I. 



I. Mariscus mariscoides (Muhl.) Kuntze. Twig-rush. Water Bog-rush. Fig. 857. 



Schoenus mariscoides Muhl. Gram. 4. 1817. 



Cladium mariscoides Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3 : 372. 1836. 



M. mariscoides Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 755. 1891. 



Culm slender, erect, rather stiff, obscurely 3-angled, 

 smooth, ii°-3° tall. Leaves about 1" wide, concave, 

 with a long compressed tip, nearly smooth; umbels 2 

 or 3, compound, the I or 2 axillary, slender stalked; 

 spikelets oblong, narrowed at both ends, acute, 2I" 

 long, capitate in 3's-io's on the raylets ; scales chestnut- 

 brown, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, the midvein 

 slightly excurrent; upper scale subtending a perfect 

 flower with 2 stamens and a filiform 3-cIeft style, the 

 next lower one with 2 stamens and an abortive ovary; 

 achene ovoid, acute, finely longitudinally striate, about 

 1" long. 



In marshes, Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota, 

 south to Florida, Kentucky and Iowa. July-Sept. 



2. Mariscus jamaicensis (Crantz) 

 Britton. Saw-grass. Fig. 858. 



Cladium jamaicense Crantz, Inst. 1 : 362. 



1766. 

 Schoenus effusus Sw. Prodr. 19. 1788. 

 Cladium effusum Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3 : 



374. 1836. 



Culm stout, 3°-9° high, bluntly 3- 

 angled. Leaves very long, 3"-io" wide, 

 minutely serrulate on the margins ; um- 

 bels several or numerous, decompound, 

 forming large panicles; spikelets mostly 

 2-5 together at the ends of the raylets, 

 narrowly ovoid, acute, 2"-2i" long; 

 uppermost scale subtending a perfect 

 flower ; stamens 2 ; achene ovoid, ab- 

 ruptly sharp-pointed, wrinkled, narrowed 

 to the base, 2 mm. long. 



In swamps, Virginia to Florida and Texas 

 and in the West Indies. Aug-Sept. 



16. SCLERIA Berg, Kongl. Acad. Sv. Handl. 26 : 142. pi. 4, 5. 1765. 



Leafy sedges, mostly perennial by rootstocks, the spikelets small, clustered in terminal, 

 or terminal and axillary fascicles, or sometimes interruptedly spicate. Flowers monoecious, 

 the staminate and pistillate spikelets separated or borne in the same clusters. Fertile spikelets 

 i-flowered. Staminate spikelets many-flowered. Scales imbricated all around, the 1-3 lower 

 and sometimes also the upper ones of the fertile spikelets empty. Perianth none. Style 

 3-cleft, slender or sometimes swollen at the base, deciduous. Ovary supported on a disk 

 (hypogynium), or this wanting. Stamens 1-3. Achene globose or ovoid, obtuse, crustaceous 

 or bony, white in our species. [Greek, in allusion to the hard fruit] 



About ,200 species, natives of tropical and temperate regions. Besides the following, some 

 8 others occur in the southern United States. Type species : Scleria fiagellum-nigrorum Berg. 

 Spikelets in terminal, or terminal and lateral clusters ; achene supported on a hypogynium. 

 Achene smooth. 



Hypogynium supporting 8 or 9 small tubercles under the achene. 

 Hypogynium covered with a rough white crust. 

 Achene reticulated or irregularly rugose. 



Culms erect or ascending ; achene not hairy ; peduncles short. 

 Culms spreading ; achene hairy ; peduncles filiform. 

 Achene papillose. 



Hypogynium supporting 6 distinct tubercles. 5. S.pauciflora. 



Hypogynium supporting 3 entire, notched or 2-lobed tubercles. 6. 5". ciliata. 



Spikelets interruptedly glomerate-spicate ; no hypogynium. 7. 5\ verticillata. 



1. 6". oligantha. 



2. 5". triglomerata. 



3. S. reticularis. 



4. .?. setacea. 



