TRIAXDRIA MOXOGYNIA 21 



Boot a tuft of wiry fibres, perennial* Culm f> to 12 inches Ions:, cespftose, acute- 

 ly triangular) finely serrulate on the ancles. Leaves sub-radical, grass-like, stri- 

 ate, slightly keeled, margins scabrous ; the lower ones short, broader, nerved and 

 mucronate, Spikelet about 6-flowered : glumes ovate, mucronate, yellowish, with 

 the keels and points green ; the two lowest oiks bract-form, the exterior one as 

 long as the spikelet. Style 3-clefl. Steed triquetrous, reddish brown; tubercle 

 small. Bristles 6, (3, Muhl. 4, Ton.) longer than the seed, hispid upwards, or 

 with the teeth erect. 



Hab. Rich, moist woodlands : frequent. Fl. -"May. PrJuly. 



Obs. This spe< ies, so different in habit from the others of this section, was first 

 observed, here, in 1827* 



§4. Style bifid, not bulbous at base, deciduous. Bristles straight, distinctly 

 hispid. Spikelets subterminai, or lateral. TrubSoibpus. 



9. S. dbbilis, JITuhL Calm naked, obtusely triangular, deeply striate; 

 spikelets few, aggregated, subterminai, sessile, ovoid ; glumes ovate, ob- 

 tuse, mucronate. Beck, Bot. p. 425. Specim. Grim, Gram, 2, no. 

 135. 



Weak Scirpi's. 



Root perennial, cespiuse. Culm erect, 9to 18 inches high, leafless, glabrous, 

 loosely sheathed at base ; sheaths 2 or 3, obliquely truncate, the upper ones mucro- 

 nate. Spikelets 1 to 6 or 8, -generally about 3,— turgid, rather acute, bursting in 

 r cluster from the side of the culm, two or three inches from its extremity J the 

 summit becoming a kind ofl-l< aved involucre. Glumes pale green, membranous, 

 somewhat inflated. Seed black, shining, punctate, obovate, plano-convex with the 

 Mat side inward, mucronate wilh ihe persistent l ase of the style. Bristles 6> a little 

 Longer than the seed, retrorscly hispid. 



Hab. Wet, sandy low grounds : Barrens : frequent. /V.August. Fr. September. 



10. S. LACUSTitJS, L. Culm naked, terete, attenuated above ; panicle 

 sub-terminal; spikelets ovoid, mostly pedunculate. Beck, But. />, 425. 

 SiEcitf, Gray, Gram. 2. no. 136. 



8. acuta* Bigel. Boat. p. 22, Also? MuhL CotoL p. 7. Ejusd 

 Gram. p. 33. Bart. Phil. 1. p. 33, Torr. Fl I. p. 49. Beck, Bot. 

 f\ 425, Rat. Man. p. 329. 



Aho, 8. valutas. Pursh, Am. I. p. 56. EIL ,SX\ 1. />, 81. Ma*. Gen. 

 I. p. 32. 



Lake Scinpus. Vulgo— Bull-rush. Tall Club-rush. 



Root perennial. Culmi to 6 or 8 feet high, leafless, glabrous, glaucous, round 

 and tapering upwards, terminating in a cusp 1 to -2 inches long, above the panicle. 

 Sheaths at the base of the culm, bearing short leaves. Spikelets in a decompound 

 umbel, or unequal cymosa panicle, ofUn clustered in threes at the ends of the bran- 

 ch* s, wi h one or more sessile, in the centre. Bracts fus/ous. Glumes brown' 

 ovate, obtuse, mucronate, slightly pubescent, margins ciliate. Seed pale greenish 

 white, obovate, compressed, coil vex on the back, mucronate. Bristle* 4, retrorsely 

 hispid, a little longer than the seed. 



Hab. Margin* of ponds, and ditches: frequent. /V.June. *V. August, 



Ob*. The Synonyms, quoted above, are used by several authors, as belonging to 

 distinct species ; but it is probable they are only tarieties. Withering and Lindlcy 

 say the culms ofthie plant are used in England, to make the seats of chairs, &c« 

 But. in tins country, they are not esteemed Or that purpose : the S. americanus* 



