496 CTPKKACE^. (sedge FAJIILY.) 



surmounted by a Jlattish cap-shaped tubercle as large as itself. — Wet sandy places, 

 Massachusetts, along the coast, to Virginia and soutliward. i 



§ 2. ELEOCHARIS Pkoper. — Scales of the terete several -mani] -flowered spike 

 membranaceous, and with a midrib or nerve, imbricated in more than three ranks. 



# Achenium lenticular {smooth) ; style 2-cleft, in No. 4 commonly 3-de/l : spike dense, 



many-flowered: culms ratlier sleiuler, spongy. {Elk6genus, Nees.) 



4. E. obtnsa, Schultcs. Calms nearly terete, tufted (8'- U' high) from 

 fibrous roots; spike globose-ovoid and with age oblong, obtuse (dull brown); the 

 scales very obtuse and numerous (80-130), densely crowded in nmny ranks ; style 3- 

 (rarely 2-) cleft; achenium obovate, shining, tumid-margined, about half the 

 length of the 6 bristles, crowned with a short and very broad flattened tubercle. — 

 Muddy places ; everywhere common. 



5. E. olivSlcea, Ton-. Culms flattish, grooved, diffusely tufted on slen- 

 der matted roots'tocks (2' -4' high); spike ovale, acutish, 20 - 30-flowered ; scales 

 ovate, obtuse, rather loosely imbricated in many ranks (purple with a green mid- 

 rib and slightly scarious mai'gins) ; achenium obovate, dull, abraptly beaked 

 with a narrow tubercle, about half the length of the 6-8 bristles. — Inundated 

 sandy soil, Massachusetts to New Jersey near the coast, and southward. 



6. E. pallistris, R. Brown. Culms nearly terete, striate (1°- 2° high), 

 from running rootstocks ; spike oblong-lanceolate, pointed, many-flowered ; scales 

 ovate-oblong, loosely imbricated in several ranks, reddish-brown with a broad and 

 translucent whitish margin and a greenish keel, the upper acutish, the lowest 

 rounded and often enlarged ; achenium obovate, somewhat shining, crowned 

 with a short ovate or ovate-triangular flattened tubercle, shorter than the usually 

 4 bristles. — Var. glaboescehs (S. glaucescens, Willd.!) : culms slender or fili- 

 form; tubercle narrower and acute, beak-like, sometimes half the length of the 

 achenium. — Var. cAlva (E. calva, Torr.) : bristles wantiiig ; tubercle short, 

 nearly as in the true E. palustris, but rather naiTOwer (Watcrtown, New York, 

 Crawe). — Very common, either in water, when it is pretty stout and tall; or in 

 low grassy grounds, when it is slender and lower. (Eu.) 



* * Achenium triangular : style 3-cleft : bristles sometimes few and fragile or alto- 



gether ivanting. (SciKPfDiUM, Nees, nearly.) 



■1- Spike much broader than the filiform or slender culm : scales imbricated in several 



ranks, brou-nish or purplish with scarious whitish margins, l-nerved. 



•w- Bristles 4-6, longm- than the achenium, stout and bearded duumu-ard. 



7. E. rostelliita, Toit. Culms flattened and striate-grooved, wiry, erect 

 (l°-2° high), the sheath transversely truncate; spike ovoid-lanceolate, acute, 12- 

 20-flowered; scales ovate, obtuse, rather rigid (light brown) ; achenium smooth, 

 obovate-tri angular, nan-owed into the confluent pyramidal tubercle, which is 

 overtopped by the 4-6 bristles. — Marshes, Rhode Island {Olney), Penu Yan, 

 New York {Sartwell), and Michigan. — Allied to S. multicaulis of Eu. 



8. E. intermedia, Schultes. Culms capillary, loiry, striate-grooved, 

 densely tufted from fibrous roots, diffusely spreading or reclining (6' - 1 2' long) ; 

 spike oblong-ovate, acutish, loosely 10 - \8-flowered (2" -3" long); scalcg oblong, 

 obtuse, green-keeled, the sides purplish-brown ; achenium smootli, obovoid with 



