CYPERACEiE. 397 



7. C. FrLlcULMis, Vahl. Slender-stalk 7 Galing ale. 



Culm slender, wiry, often reclined ; spikes numerous an utered in a dense 

 head, or in 1 to 3 additional looser heads on spreading rays, 6 to 10-flowcred ; scales 

 ovate, blunt, loose; achenium obovarte. 



Dry sterile soil. Ana;. Culm 1 foot high, clustered, tuberous at base. Leaves 

 liuaar, dull green. Scales yellowish-green, with a scurious margin. 



* * * Inner scales herbaceous, free. 



i $. C. erytiirohizos, Muhl. Red-rooted Galingale. 



Culm, obtusely triangular ; umbel componnd, many-rayed ; involucre 4 to 5-leavcd, 

 very long; spikes very numerous, crowded in oblong-cylindrical heads, 10 to 18- 

 flowered; scales Ian vjolate, mucronatc. 



Wet alluvial banks. Aug. Culm 2 to 3 feet high, smooth. Leaves shorter than 

 the culm. Strikes Lright chestnut colored. Hoot fibrous, red. 



3. HEMICARPHA, Nees. 



Qr..hemi, half, and Icarphos, straw or chaff, in allusion to the single inner scalelet on 

 one side of the flower. 



Spike many-flowered, ovoid, one or few in a lateral clus- 

 ter, sessile. Scales imbricated in many rants, ovate or 

 obovate. Inner scale single behind the flower, very thin. 

 Perianth none. Stamen 1. Style 2-cleft. — Low tufted 

 annuals ,• the naked culms with bristle-like leaves at the base. 



H. subsquarrosa, Nees. Dwarf Hemicarpha. 



Dwarf; involucre 2-leaved, 1 long as if a continuation of the bristle-like culm, 

 the other a minute leaf; spikes 2 or 3 ; scales tipped with a short-recurved point. 



Sandy shores. July. Culms 1 to 4 inches high, in dense tufts, leafy at base. 

 Leaves setaceous. Spikes % inch long, sometimes solitary. Scales very numerous. 



4. ELEOCHARIS, R. Brown. Spike-rush. 



Gr. elos, a marsh, and charts, to delight in; being marsh plants. 



Spike single, terminating the naked culm, many to 

 several-flowered. Scales imbricated on all sides in many, 

 rarely 2 or 3 ranks. Perianth of 3 to 12 {usually G) 

 bristles, often rough or barbed downwards. Stamens 3. 

 Style 2 or 3-eleft, bulbous at the base, pointed with the 

 apex of the lenticular or mostly obtusely triangular achen- 

 ium. — Chiefly perennial leafless herbs, icith tufted culms 

 sheathed at the base, some of them aften sterile from matted or creep, 

 ing rootstocks. 



1. E. quadrangulata, R. Brown. Square-stalked 

 Spike-rush. 



Culm even, sharply 4-angled, 3 of the sides concave, the fourth wider and flat J 

 Scales broad-ovate, very obtuse; achenium smooth, crowned with a beaked tubercle. 



Shallow water. Aug. Culm 2 to 4 feet high, with purple sheaths at base* 

 Sjpike 1 to IJ4 inch long. Scales with a scarious margin, dotted with purple- 



82 



