OTPEttACEJK. (SKDGE FAMILY.) 0'2 l J 



and ditches, Florida, and northward. July- Sept. — Leaves l°-2° long. Nut 

 and tubercle nearly 1 ' long. 



2. C. maerostachyilS, Gray, var. patulus. Corymbs very large, 

 decompound, diffuse; style minutely 2-cleft; nut broadly ohovato ; bristles slen- 

 der, twice as long as the nut ; otherwise like No. I. — Ponds and ditches, Florida, 

 and northward. August. — Culms 3° -4° high. Terminal corymbs often 1° 

 in diameter. 



3. C. capitatUS, n. gp. Culms (2° -3° high) nearly terete, straight, like 

 the long narrow erect and channelled leaves; spikes densely clustered in 1-6 

 globular heads, the lateral heads long peduncled and somewhat corymbose ; 

 scales about 9 (the fourth fertile), whitish; style very long, minutely 2-cleft ; nut 

 o'xmuc, lenticular, obscurely wrinkled, hispid on the margins above, shorter 

 than the 6 slender bristles ; tubercle bristle-awl shaped, twice as long as the nut. 

 — Fine-barren ponds, Middle and West Florida. June - Aug. — Leaves 2" - 4" 

 wide, as long as the culm. Head composed of 30 or more spikes. Nut and 

 tubercle 3" long. 



16. CHJETOSPORA, R.Brown. 



Spikes few- (1 -8-) flowered. Scales imbricated in two rows ; the lower ones 

 empty, the upper bearing perfect flowers. Perianth of 3 - 6 scabrous or plumose 

 bristles. Stamens 3. Style 3-cleft, not dilated at the base, nearly deciduous. 

 Nut triangular, mostly pointed by the persistent base of the style. — Leaves 

 radiial, narrow. Spikes iu a terminal cluster, subtended by a 1-2-leaved in- 

 volucre. 



1- C. nigricans, Kunth. Culms tufted, erect, slightly compressed, smooih 

 and rigid, jointed near the summit ; leaves rigid, erect, semi-terete, rough on the 

 margins, shorter than the culms; sheaths black; involucre 2-leaved, the lowest 

 longer than the ovoid dark brown head; spikes ovate-lanceolate, compressed, 

 6-8-flowered; scales ovate, compressed-keeled, the lowest mucronate; rachia 

 zigzag; bristles 6, unequal, compressed, dilated at the base, hispid upward, 

 longer than the globose-3-anglcd white and polished nut. (Schcenus nigricans, 

 L.) — Damp soil, near Marianna, West Florida, and salt marshes, .near St. 

 Mark, Middle Florida. May. \— Culms 1°- U° high. Although differing 

 in some particulars, the Florida plant is probably not distinct from that of the 

 eastern hemisphere. 



17. PSILOCARYA, Ton. 



Spikes many-flowered, terete. Scales imbricated in several rows, membrana- 

 ceous, all bearing perfect flowers. Perianth none. Stamens 2. Style 2-cleft. 

 Nut biconvex, transversely wrinkled, crowned with the persistent base of tho 

 style. — Culms leafy. Spikes ovate, disposed in spreading lateral and terminal 

 corymbs. 



1. P. rhynchosporoides, Torr. Culms nearly terete {h°-2° high); 

 leaves narrowly linear, longer than the culm ; corymbs 2-3, widely spreading, 

 the terminal one mostly compound ; spikes pedicelled ; scales ovate, acute ; nut 



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