518 CYPERACEiE. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



none. — Margins of ponds and streams, West Florida. June -Aug. ® — 

 Culms 3' -5' high. Spikes \"-2" long, the lower scales deciduous as nevr 

 flowers arc developed. Nut hlack, smooth and shining. 



h- +- Culms terete or compressed, more or less spongy. 



19. E. capitata, R. Brown. Rhizoma slender, creeping; culms com- 

 pressed; spikes short, ovate, 12-16-flowered ; scales membranaceous, whitish, 

 oblong, obtuse, deciduous; nut black and shining, broadly obovatc, biconvex, 

 tipped with the short conical tubercle; bristles 6, as long as the nut. — Springy 

 or miry places, Florida, Georgia, and westward. June - Sept. 1J. — Culms 

 1'- 4' high. Spikes 1"- 2" long. Scales often brown when young. Nut very 

 small. 



20. E. olivaeea, Torr. Culms compressed, furrowed, diffuse; spikes 

 ovate, acutish, many-flowered ; scales ovate, ohtuse, thin, purplish on the sides, 

 green on the keel, the margins white ; nut obovatc, dull, dark olive ; tubercle 

 distinct, conical-beaked; bristles 6-8, about half as long as the nut. — Wet 

 sandy places, North Carolina, and northward. Aug. and Sept. — Culms 2' - 5' 

 long. Spikes 3" long, 20-30-flowered. 



21. E. palustris, It- Brown. Rhizoma creeping; culms slender, terete, 

 striate; spikes oblong-lanceolate, mostly acute, many-flowered; scales oblong, 

 memhranaceous, brown on the sides, at length whitish, the upper ones acute; 

 nut dull yellow, obovatc, tumid, minutely dotted; tubercle short, triangular- 

 ovate, compressed; bristles 4, slender, commonly as long as the nut. (Seirpus 

 palustris, L.) — Marshes and wet places, Florida, and northward. June -Sept. 

 \ — Rhizoma black. Culms l°-3° long. Spikes 3" -5" long. 



22. E. Obtusa, Schultes. Culms tufted, terete, thick and spongy ; spikes 

 ovate or oblong, obtuse, many-flowered ; scales thin, oblong, obtuse, commonly 

 brown on the sides, green on the keel, with broad and white margins; style 

 2-3-clcft; nut (light brown) obovatc, lenticular, smooth and shining, scarcely 

 wider than the short compressed acute tubercle ; bristles 6, rigid, twice the length 

 of the nut. (Seirpus capitatus, Ell) — Muddy margins of ponds and streams, 

 Florida, and northward. Common. June -Sept. — Culms 6'- 18' high. Spikes 

 2" - 4" long. 



\ 2. CHiETOCYPERUS. Spikes few-flowered, compressed : scales membranaceous, 

 imbricated in 2-3 rows : style 3-cleft. Culms capillar//. 



23. E. acicularis, R. Br. Culms (2' -12' high) angled; spikes ovate, 

 5-G-flowered, acute; scales oblong, with reddish sides, nut oblong, white, 

 nearly terete, longitudinally ribbed and pitted, pointed with the conical or de- 

 pressed tubercle ; bristles 3 - 4, (shorter than the nut, sometimes wanting. (Seir- 

 pus trichodes, Muhl.) — Margins of ponds, Florida, and northward. June- 

 Scpt. 



24. E. pygmsea, Torr. Culms short (l'-2' high), grooved on one side; 

 spikes ovate, 3 - 6-flowcred ; scales whitish, ovate ; nut ovate, pale, prominently 

 3-angled, smooth and Bhiaing, narrowed above into the minute tubercle; bristles 

 6, longer than the nut, sometimes wanting. (Seirpus capillaccus, Ell.) — Muddy 



