T. Holm — Studies in the Oyperacece. 



49 



tion of the inflorescence is, however, the same whether it is 

 developed near the apex or the base of the stem. 



While our plant is not commonly dioecious, the flowers show 

 a tendency to develop in separate spikes, as wholly male, as 

 wholly female, or as androgynous. 

 Of these the male spikes are always 

 many-flowered but with an ex- 

 tremely short rhachis, while the 

 female have merely one flower. 

 The androgynous ones are com- 

 posed of several male and one 

 single female flower, which is situ- 

 ated at the base of the spike. As 

 regards the distribution of the 

 sexes, the male spikes are usually 

 gathered at the apex of the inflo- 

 rescence, terminating the main 

 stem or the lateral branches. Ex- 

 clusively male plants have not been 



Fig. 1. Diagram of 



female 



A = the axis ; B = the leafy bract, 

 which subtends the spike ; P = 

 prophyllon : b l and & 2 = empty 

 bracts, 6 3 = bract subtending the 

 female flower, of which the two 

 wborls of the perianth has been 

 drawn. 



observed, though we have found s P ike of Sderia pautiflora Muhl. 

 several specimens with only female 

 flowers developed, at the same time 

 as the basal inflorescences of monoe- 

 cious specimens were noticed to 

 be exclusively female. Neutral 

 flowers (reduced females) may acci- 

 dentally be found in copious-flowered specimens. 



A characteristic divergence between the male and female 

 spikes lies in the development of the foliar organs, the bracts, 

 which we have already indicated above. The male flower is 

 subtended by a scale-like bract, which is not preceded by any 

 empty ones, while such occur in the number of two in the 

 female spikes, or of only one in the androgynous. Another 

 and very striking character is that of a spiral arrangement of 

 bracts in the male spike, in contrast to the biseriate arrange- 

 ment of the same organs in the female. 



Essaying to demonstrate the general structure of the inflo- 

 rescence in Scleria pauciflora, we may begin with one of the 

 very small lateral ones, which often developed from the axil of 

 the lower stem-leaves. 



The accompanying figure 2 represents one of these lateral 

 inflorescences, borne upon a long, slender peduncle (St.), upon 

 which two leaf-like bracts (B 1 and B 2 } are to be seen. In the 

 axil of the first bract (B 1 ) is developed a one-flowered female 

 spike, borne upon a very short peduncle with its prophyllon 

 (P) at the base. This spike consists of two empty bracts' (b 1 

 and b°~), preceding a third (b 3 ) which, subtends the pistillate 

 flower. The first of these bracts (b l ) is usually narrow and 

 almost awl-shaped, while the inner ones are much broader and 



Am. Jour. Sci. — Fourth Series, Yol. V, No. 25. — Jan., 1898. 

 4 



