508 CYFERACE^E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



* * Spikelets compressed, somewhat 2-ranked, mostly few and scattered on the com- 

 mon rachis : perennials, with creeping tuber-bearing roolstocks : flowers mostly 

 abortive. 



12. C. repens, Ell. Umbel mostly simple, erect, 5-6-raycd, shorter than 

 the 3-5-lcavcd involucre; spikclets linear, spreading, 12 - 24-flowered, the 

 lower ones often clustered; scales oblong, obtuse or short mucronate, com- 

 pressed-keeled, thin-margined, spreading at the apex, yellowish brown ; nut ob- 

 long, triquetrous, acute. — Sandy soil near the coast, Florida, and northward. 

 •July - Sept. — Culms l°-l£° high, acute-angled, longer than the erect smooth 

 leaves. Rays 2' -4' long. Spikelets 6" - 8" long. Whole plant yellowish. 



13. C. lutescens, Torn & Hook. Umbel simple, large, 5- 7-rayed, short- 

 er than the 3 - 5-leaved involucre ; spikelets horizontal, flat, linear, 30 - 40-flow- 

 ercd, the lowest 2 - 3 in a cluster ; scales light brown, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 

 rounded on the back, slightly spreading at maturity; nut obovate-oblong ; culms 

 Etout (2° - 3° high), "acute-angled, shorter than the broadly linear leaves. — Key 

 West. Nov. — Leaves 5"- 6" wide, very smooth. Rays 4' -8' long. Spike- 

 lets 1' long, I|" wide, serrate, the lower ones with a bristly involucel. 



14. C. rotundus, L. Umbel simple or compound, 3 - 8 rayed, mostly 

 longer than the 3-leaved involucre ; spikes composed of 3 - 9 scattered linear 

 flat 20 - 30-flowered spikelets ; scales oblong, obtuse, appressed, 7-nerved on the 

 green keel, the membranaceous sides dark chestnut ; nut obovate ; culms smooth, 

 slender, longer than the broadly linear crowded spreading rough leaves. (C 

 Hydra, Michx.) — Sandy soil, along the coast, Florida to North Carolina. Aug. 

 and Sept.— Culm 9'- 18' high. Rays slender, 2' -4' long. Spikelets £'-1' 

 long. 



2. Sparsiflori. Umbel compound : spikelets compressed, many-flowered, scattered 

 in loose spikes at theflliform suimnit of the rays: scales thin, 5-nerved, separate.-; 

 joints of the rachis slightly margined: stamens 2. 



15. C. Iria, L. Umbel 6- 8-rayed, erect, shorter than, the 3 - 4-leavcd in- 

 volucre; spikelets erect-spreading, oblong-linear, 12- 24-flowcred ; scales spread- 

 ing, nearly orbicular, obtuse or cmarginatc, short-mucronate, 5-nervcd on the 

 green keel, the thin whitish sides minutely pitted ; nut oblong-obovate, abruptly 

 pointed; style very short ; culms (1° high) slender, acute-angled, longer than 

 the smooth narrow leaves. — Santee Canal, South Carolina, Ilavenel. Probablj 

 introduced from Eastern Asia. 



3. Palmati. Umbel compound or decompound, diffuse: spikelets 2-ranked, com* 

 pressed, many-flowered, 3-10 in a cluster at the summit of the general and par. 

 tied rays : scales closely imbricetted, 3 - 7-nerved, decurrent on the rachis : sta 

 mens 3. 



* Culms terete, knotted, leafless : involucre very short : nut oblong. 

 1G. C. ai'ticulatUS, L Umbel compound, many-rayed, spreading or re 

 curved; involucre of three bract-like pungent leaves; spikclets long (£'-l£ f 

 long), linear, spreading, 30- 40-flowcrcd ; scales whitish, oblong, obtuse, 7-nerved 





