Genus 16. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



349 



i. Scleria oligantha Michx. Few-flowered 

 Nut-rush. Fig. 859. 



Scleria oligantha Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 167. 1803. 



Rootstocks thick, hard, clustered; culms slender, 

 erect, sharply 3-angled, nearly smooth, ii°-2j° tall, the 

 angles somewhat winged. Leaves smooth or slightly 

 rough at the apex, 2"-3" wide, the lower short, acute, 

 the upper elongated; clusters terminal, usually also 1 

 or 2 axillary, and filiform-stalked; bracts slightly cil- 

 iate or glabrous; achene ovoid, obtuse but sometimes 

 pointed, bright white, smooth, shining; hypogynium a 

 narrow obtusely triangular border supporting 8 or 9 

 small tubercles under the achene. 



In moist soil, District of Columbia and Virginia to 

 Florida, Arkansas and Texas. June-Aug. 



2. Scleria triglomerata Michx. Tall Nut-rush. Whip-grass. Fig. 860. 



Scleria triglomerata Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2 : 168. 1803. 

 Scleria triglomerata var. gracilis Britton, Ann. N. Y. 

 Acad. Sci. 3 : 230. 1885. Not .?. gracilis Ell. 1824. 



Rootstocks hard, stout, clustered; culms 3-angled, 

 slender or rather stout, erect or ascending, rough or 

 nearly smooth on the angles, iJ°-3° tall. Leaves flat, 

 smooth or slightly rough-margined, glabrous or nearly 

 so, i4"-2i" wide, the lower short, acute, the upper 

 tapering to a long tip, rarely exceeding the culm; 

 flower-clusters terminal, and usually also I or 2 

 smaller ones from the axils ; bracts glabrous or 

 slightly ciliate; achene ovoid or ovoid-globose, obtuse 

 but somewhat pointed, bony, obscurely 3-angled, 

 smooth, bright white, shining, l"-ii" high, supported 

 on a low obtusely triangular, papillose-crustaceous 

 hypogynium. 



In meadows and thickets, Vermont to Ontario and Wis- 

 consin, south to Florida, Arkansas and Texas. July-Sept. 



3. Scleria reticularis Michx. Reticulated Nut-rush. Fig. 861. 



Scleria reticularis Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2 : 167. 1803. 

 Scleria reticularis obscura Britton, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 

 3: 232. 1885. 



Rootstocks small; culms very slender, erect, 3-angled, 

 i°-2i° tall. Leaves narrowly linear, smooth, glabrous 

 or nearly so, l"-li" wide, not overtopping the culm; 

 spikelets in a terminal cluster and 1-3 remote short- 

 stalked axillary rather loose ones; bracts glabrous; 

 achene globose, crustaceous, dull white when mature, 

 reticulated by longitudinal and transverse ridges, 4" in 

 diameter, glabrous, the reticulations sometimes very 

 obscure; hypogynium 3-lobed, its lobes appressed to the 

 base of the achene. 



In moist meadows, eastern Massachusetts to Florida and 

 in northern Indiana. July-Sept. 



