262 



JUNCAGINACE.E. 



Triglochin. 



3. Triglochin elatum, Nutt. Tall Arrow-grass. 



Leaves semicylindrical, much shorter than the scape ; fruit ovate ; 4, 5 and 6 six carpels 

 oblong-linear, deeply sulcate on the back, the margins prominent and acute. — Nutt. gen. 2. 

 p. 237; Kunth, enum. 3. p. 145. 



Root somewhat bulbous. Leaves all radical, very narrow. Scape 18 inches to 2 feet high, 

 obscurely 3-sided. Spike elongated (in fruit nearly a foot long). Pedicels of the flowers 

 about a line long. Fruit 2^ lines long, obtuse at the base, sharply angular by the projecting 

 edges of the carpels. 



Freshwater swamps in the western part of this State. Near Bridgewater, &c. (Dr. Gray) ; 

 Gorham (Dr. Aikin). Fl. June - July. Fr. August. I insert this species with considerable 

 hesitation, as it does not appear to be very distinct from T. maritimum. In my undoubted 

 specimens of the latter, however, found in salt marshes, the carpels are triangular, without 

 projecting acute edges ; but these characters may not be constant. 



2. SCHEUCHZEFJA. Linn. ; Endl. gen. 1040. scheuchzeria. 



[Named in memory of the two brothers Schedchzer, Swiss botanists.] 



Perianth of 6 regular somewhat petaloid persistent leaflets ; the 3 interior narrower. Anthers 

 on slender filaments, extrorse. Ovaries 3, each with 3 anatropous ascending ovules. 

 Carpels 3 (rarely 4), one of them sometimes abortive, ovate, inflated, united at the. base, 

 diverging, 1 - 2-seeded. — A perennial smooth herb, with a creeping rhizoma, flexuous 

 stem and linear leaves. Flowers in a loose raceme. 



1. Scheuchzeria palustris, Linn. Marsh Scheuchzeria. 



Linn. sp. 1. p. 338 ; Engl. hot. t. 1801 ; Michx. fl. 2. p. 209 ; Pursh, fl. I. p. 247; 

 Nutt. gen. 1. p. 236 ; Torr. fi. 1. p. 372 ; Beck, bot. p. 380 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 168 ; 

 Kunth, enum. 3. p. 146. 



Rhizoma horizontal. Stem 8-12 inches high, erect, angular. Leaves somewhat disti- 

 chous, sheathing at the base, linear and semiterele, with a small depression on the upper 

 surface a little below the tip. Raceme few-flowered ; the lower pedicels longest, subtended 

 by sheathing leaves, which diminish upward into bracts. Perianth greenish yellow ; the 

 leaflets oblong. Stamens usually 6 : filaments about as long as the large linear anthers. 

 Ovaries obtuse, slightly united at the base. Carpels coriaceous, large. Seeds mostly 2, 

 oblong, obtusely triangular, black. 



Sphagnous swamps in the western and northern parts of the State : rare. Fl. July. 

 Fr. August. The North American plant seems to be no way different from the European. 



