202 



CY?EKACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY^ 



(0.4-1 m. high); leaves narrow (1-3 mm. wide}, channeled 

 scarcely rough-margined, ; panicle 0.5-3 dm. long, 2-5 cm. 

 broad, of 2-4 umbelliform cymes, the rays rigidly ascend- 

 ing; spikelets clustered in heads 3-10 

 together on few peduncles ; achene miter- 

 shaped, the truncate base slightly flaring. 

 — Bogs and wet sandy shores, either 

 fresh or brackish, N. S. to Out., s. to 

 Fla., Ky., Ind., and la. Aug.-Oct. Fig. 

 328. 



2. C. jamaiclnse Crantz. (Saw 

 Gkass.) Tall (1-3 m.) and coarse ; 

 leaves broad (0.5-1 cm.), stiff and flat, 

 the margins and midrib beneath harshly 

 serrate; panicle 3-9 dm. long, the numerous rays bearing 

 abundant fascicled small chestnut-colored spikelets ; achene 

 obovoid, the truncate base not flaring. (C effusum'Tovv.) 

 — Shallow water, Va. to Fla. and Tex. (W.I.) Fig. 329. 329. C. jamalcense. 



:^'2S. C. mariscoides. 



16. SCLERIA Bergius. Nut Bush 



Flowers monoecious ; the fertile spikelets 1-flowered, usually intermixed with 

 clusters of few-flowered staminate spikelets. Scales loosely imbricated, the 

 lower empty. Stamens 1-3. Style 3-cleft. Achene globular, stony, bony, or 

 enamel-like in texture. — Perennials, with triangular leafy 

 culms, mostly from creeping rootstocks ; flowering in summer ; 

 all in low ground or swamps. Inflorescence, in our species, 

 of terminal and axillary clusters, the lower clusters usually 

 peduncled. (Name (rxX-qpia, hardness, from the indurated 



■-' * Achene smooth. 



1. S. triglomerJta Michx. Oulm (0.")-l m. high) and 

 broadly linear r3.5-9 mm. wide) leaves roughish ; fascicles of 

 spikelets few, the lowest peduncled, the upper somewhat in 

 threes ; achene ovoid-globose or depressed, 2-3 mm. long, on 

 an obscure crustaceous disk. — Low, usually 

 sandy soil, e. Mass. and Vt. (according to John 

 Torrey) to Ont., la., and south w. June-Aug. 

 Fig. 3.30. Var. gracilis Britten. Culms 

 slender (3-6 dm. long) ; leaves narrower ; 

 fascicles few-flowered, the lower (2-S-flowered) 

 S trtelomeiata "^ "^H/ long flZiform peduncles; achene nar- 

 rower, 1-1.5 mm. long, acutish. (Var. minor 

 Britton.) — N. Y. and N. J. 

 j/2. S. oligiintha Michx. Culms slender, the angles somewhat 



winged ; leaves linear (.3-5 mm. wide), smooth except the scabrous 

 apex ; lateral fascicles 1 or 2, usually on long exserted peduncles ; 

 achene ovoid, on a tuberculate disk. — Woods, D. C. to Fla. and 

 Tex. May-July. Fig. 331. 



* * Achene papillose, granulose or warty. 



S. pauciflbra Muhl. Smoothish or slightly hairy; culm 



881. S. oligantha. 



1/3. 



slender (2-6 dm. high) ; leaves narrowly linear, 1-3 mm. broad ; 

 fascicles few-flowered, the lateral pedunculate, sessile, or want- 

 ing ; bracts ciliate ; achene globose, 1.5-2 mm. in diameter; the 

 disk a narrow ring bearing 3 pairs of distinct minute tubercles. 

 — Barrens and dryish meadows, N.J. to 0., s. to Fla. and Tex. 

 June-Aug. (W.I.) Fir,. 332. 



Var. caroliniana (Willd.) Wood. Very slender; leaves, culms 

 and scales very vubescent. — Local. Mass., 0., Ind., and southw. 



