TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA 15 



§3. Flowers Gmmaceous: or consisting of single chaff-like Brads, called 

 (Slum**,— which are imbricated in Spikelets, or Heads : Each fertile Jloicer produ- 

 rijtg a single seed, or nut. Nat. Ord. 262. Lindl. CyperacejE. * 



A. Flowers generally Perfect, or Jtfonoclinous. 



DIV. I. Cypereje— Spikelets with the Ghtmes imbricated Distichously 



tt. Ovary destitute of Bristles. 



17. CYPERUS. L. JViitt. Gen. 52. 

 [An ancient Greek name, of uncertain Etymology.] 



Spikelets compressed, distinct, many-flowcrcd. Glumes imbricated in 

 two rows, nearly all enclosing flowers. Style deciduous. Seed tri- 

 quetrous, or lenticular. 



I. C. smiGosrs, L. Umbel with elongated rays, bearing oblong 

 loose spikes ; spikelets linear, subulate, expanding horizontally ; involu- 

 cre of about G leaves, the exterior ones very long* Beck, Bot. p. 421. 

 Strioose Cvi'Kiirs. Vulgo — Bristle-spiked Galingale. 



Hoot perennial, cloboee, with descending fibres. Culm triquetrous, 1 to 2 feel 

 li. Leaves broad- linear, nearly as long as the culm, rough on the margin 

 Umbel 3 to 6 rayed ; rays unequal, 1 to 3 inches long, triquetrous 9 sheathed al bas< ; 

 sheaths bifid. Spikelets yellowish, acute, bracteate at base, 10 or 12 (lowered; 

 flowers alternate. See I oblong, triquetrous. 

 Hah. Wet meadows, and low grounds: frequent. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



2. C. diaxdrus, Torr. Umbel sessile, or few-rayed ; rays unequal, 

 with the spikclets in loose fascicled heads ; involucre 3-Ieaved, two of 

 them much longer than the umbel; spikelets lance-oblong, much com- 

 pressed, acute, many-flowered ; stamens 2. Beck, Bot. p. 421. 

 i\ Mcolor. Bart. Phil. \. p. 27. 

 C fiavescens. Florul. Ccstr.p.S. Not of L. and others. 



DlAKDROUS CXPERDS. 



Hoot perennial, fibrous. Culm 6 to 12 inches long, slender, somewhat decumbent 

 or reclining, triangular, striate. Leaves few, shorter than the culm, with rather 

 Loose membranous sheaths. Involucre unequal ; the longest haves often 6 or 8 in- 

 ches lone. Umbel sometimes without rays,— generally 1 to 3,— and occasionally ."> 

 or6 rayed ; spikclets one third to two thirds of an inch long, much compressed, and 

 arranged in loose fascicles, or clusters. Glumes membranaceous, compressed, 

 with purplish or chesnut-colored sides, and green keel. Stamens always 2. (Torr.) 

 tityle long, deeply 2-clcft. tfeedobovate, compressed, grey, (finally dark brown,) 

 minutely puncticulate, or rugose, under a lens. 

 Hab. Low "rounds : margins of rivulets: common. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This species was mistaken for C.flavescens, when my Catalogue was 

 published. Muhlenberg considered it a "co-species," (drum. D< tnipt.p. 17.)- and 

 in his Herbarium it immediately follows the C. flavescens, with the remark, "pri- 

 ori affinis." It appears, however, to be quite distinct from that species— which has 

 ii •: yet been found in Chester County. 



♦The Plants of this Section all belong to the Natural Order Cyperace.*, or 

 Sedge Tribe.— somewhat allied to Grasses ; but the stems, or Culms, arc solid, or 

 filled with a spongy pith-like substance,— generally without joints, or nodes, taper- 

 ing, cylindric, or angular, (often triangular.)— and the sheaths of the leaves which 

 embrace the culm are not slit, but entire. The floral coverings are now considered 

 as real Bracts. The Flowers (with the exception, perhaps, of Carex,) are destitute 

 of a rrue Perianth ; but that organ is frequently substituted by Hypogynous Seta, 

 or Bristles surrounding the base of the ovary. 



