80 CYPERACEAE. 



in alkali soils: Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin and Santa 

 Cruz ens. Mar. -May. 



2. H. murinum L. BARLEY-GBA.SS. Annual; stems 6 to 24 in. high, de- 

 cumbenl at base, <>r in moist, shady places erect; upper sheaths glabrous, light 

 green, Marions-margined, often inflated; lower pilose; ligule */> to y A line long, 

 truncate; blade both softly pubescent and scabrous, 1 to 5% lines wide; 

 spikes 2 to 4 in. long, broad, stout, compressed; awns erect; spikelets densely 

 imbricate; bracts awned; those of the central spikelet lanceolate, flat, 3-nerved, 

 ciliate, with awns 9 to 12 lines long; those of the lateral spikelet similar, except- 

 ing tin' inner which are awn-like and not ciliate; bractlet scabrous at the apex, 

 about 6 lines long, its awn ^ to 2 in. long; bractlets of the lateral spikelets 

 somewhat smaller, awn % to 2 in. long; palea emarginate, somewhat webby 

 within, keels distantly ciliate; scales of the sterile spikelets very prominent, 

 iy 2 lines long; anthers broad, % line long, green. 



Native of Europe; naturalized and now very common throughout middle 

 ami southern California, and spreading northward. Apr.-May. Often miscalled 

 Fox-tail. 



3. H. maritimum With. var. gussonianum Husn. Gussoni's Barley- 

 <;hass. Slender annual, 4 to 12 m. high; spike 1 to l 1 /, in. long, excluding 

 the awns; lateral spikelets reduced to rudiments; flower of central spikelet 

 sessile; bracts of the central spikelet setaceous, the inner one of the lateral 

 spikelets slightly flattened, X A line wide, not at all ciliate. 



Naturalized from S. Europe and now very common throughout the- State: 

 Berkeley j Olema; Bodega Pt., and elsewhere. Apr.-May. 



CYPERACEAE. Sedge Family. 



Annual or perennial herbs of marshy or damp places. Stems solid, arising 

 from rootstocks, triangular or terete, the upper internode below the inflores- 

 cence generally very long. Leaves often arranged in 3 rows, sheathing at 

 base, the sheath closed, seldom split; ligule none or very small. Flowers 

 in spikelets, solitary and sessile in the axils or imbricated glume-like bractlets, 

 and disposed in 2 or more ranks; spikelets solitary or clustered, or arranged 

 in spikes, racemes, panicles or umbels, and subtended by leafy bracts, or naked. 

 Perianth none or represented by usually t to 6 bristles. Stamens 3. Pistil 1; 

 ovary 1 -celled, the single style 2 or 3-cieft. Fruit a lenticular or more or less 

 triangular achene. (The specific keys and descriptions in this family have 

 been done by Mr. J. Burtt Davy.) 



Flowers perfecl (the stamens and pistils in the axil of the same bractlet). 



Spikelets flattened, the bractlets arranged in - opposite rows 1. C'yperus. 



Spikelets cylindrical, the bractlets arranged around the axis in several rows. 

 Style enlarged at base, 



Forming a persistent tubercle jointed on the apex of the achene; spikelet solitary, 



terminal upon a leafless bractless scape 2. Eleocharis. 



Wholly deciduous at maturity; spikelets in an involucratc umbel... 3. Fimbkistylis. 

 Style not enlarged at base, deciduous or only the base persistent 



Stamens mostly 3; spikelets solitary or clustered or in a compound umbel 



4. Scirpus. 

 Stamens 1 to 3; bristles < perianth hairs) numerous, long exserted and silky in 



fruit 5. EaioPHoauM. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious, usually in separate spikelets; pistil and achene enclosed 

 in an inflated sac like bractlet (perigynium) 6. Carkx. 



1. CYPERUS L. Galingai.i 

 Annuals or perennials, stems triangular, leafy a1 the base, the inflores- 

 cence BUbtended by 1 or more conspicuous, leafy bracts. Spikelets solitan ><v 





