CYPERACEiE. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 519 



or sandy banks near the coast, Florida, and northward. April -July. — Rhizoma 

 very slender, bearing minute tuber-like buds. Spikes \" -2" long. 



25. E. Baldwinii, Torr. Culms (4' -6' long) grooved, diffuse, wiry ; 

 spikes oblong, flat, 3-5-flowcred, proliferous and rooting; scales 4 -6, 2-rankcd, 

 lanceolate, obtuse, finely nerved, the lower ones longer ; nut smooth, oblong, 

 strongly 3-anglcd, crowned with the conical 3-angled sessile tubercle; bristles 

 4-6, unequal, the longest as long as the nut. — Swamps, Florida and Georgia. 

 June - Sept. 1J. — Sheaths light brown. Spikes 2" long. 



8. SCIRPUS, L. Bulrush. 



Spikes terete, single, or oftcner in clusters or umbels, which arc subtended by 

 a 1 -many-leaved involucre. Scales imbricated in several rows. Nut obtuse, 

 or pointed by the persistent jointless base of the style. Tubercle none. — Culms 

 jointed and leafy, or leafy or sheathed only at the base. Otherwise like Eleo- 

 charis. — All perennial except No. 2. 



§ 1. Culms jointless : leaves or sheaths radical. 

 * Spike solitary, terminal. 



1. S. CSespitOSUS, L. Culms tufted (6'- 10' high), terete, wiry; sheaths 

 numerous, rigid, imbricated, the uppermost ending in a short leaf ; spike 3-8- 

 flowcrcd ; involucre 2-leavcd, as long as the spike, pointed ; nut oblong, com- 

 pressed-3-angled, abruptly pointed, half as long as the smooth capillary bristles. 

 — High mountains of North Carolina, and northward. July. — Rhizoma thick 

 and creeping. Spike l"-2" long. 



* * Spikes 1- many, apparently lateral: the l-leaved involucre erect and continuous 



with the culm. 

 ■*- Spikes in sessile clusters. 



2. S. debilis, Pursh. Culms terete, slender, commonly leafless ; spikes 

 2-5, oblong-ovate or cylindrical; involucre elongated; scales round-ovate, 

 obtuse mucronate; style 2-3-cleft; nut broadly obovatc, plano-convex, smooth, 

 shorter than the 4-6 strongly hispid bristles. — Borders of ponds and streams, 

 South Carolina, and northward. ©—Culms £°-l^° high. Spikes 3"- 5" 

 long. 



3. S. pungens, Vahl. Culms stout, acutely 3-anglcd, two of the sides 

 concave, leafy at the base ; leaves channelled, sharply keeled ; involucre slender 

 (3'-4'long); spikes 3-6, light brown, oblong; scales membranaceous, oval, 

 2-clcft, mucronate-awned, slightly ciliate ; anthers slender-pointed; style 2-clcft; 

 nut round-obovate, plano-convex or lenticular, as long as the 3-5 hispid bristles. 

 (S. Amcricanus, Pers.) — Sandy marshes along the coast, West Florida, and 

 northward. June- Sept. — Culm 2° -3° high. Leaves 2-3, mostly shorter 

 than the culm. Spikes 4"- 6" long. 



4. S. Olneyi, Gray. Culms stout, with three-winged angles, and three deeply 

 channelled sides, leafless, or the sheaths ending in short pointed leaves; invo- 

 lucre short (i'-l'long) rigid; spikes 7-13, short, ovate, dark brown; scales 



