Eriocaulon. 



ERIOCAULONACEiE. 



335 



1. ERIOCAULON. Linn. ; Kunth, enum. 3. p. 539. pipe wort. 



[ From the Greek, erion, wool, and kaulos, stem ; in allusion to the downy stems or scapes of the species first known.] 



Heads monoecious or rarely dioecious : the central flowers sterile ; the marginal fertile, each 

 with a bract at the base. Calyx of 2 - 3 sepals. Sterile fl. Corolla tubular ; the limb 

 2 - 3-lipped ; the segments often with a tubercle or gland on the inside. Stamens 6, rarely 

 3-4. Fertile fl. Corolla 2 - 3-sepalled, each with a gland below the apex. Ovary 

 2 - 3-celled : styles distinct or united at the base. — Habit that of the order. 



1. Eriocaulon septangulare, With. Pellucid Pipewort. 



Leaves subulate-ensiform, shorter than the striate smooth scape ; flowers and scales hairy 

 at the summit ; sepals 2 ; petals 2, in the sterile flowers partly united ; stamens 4 ; capsule 



2- celled. — Hook. infl. Lond. n. ser. t. 52, <§■ Brit.fl. (ed. 4.) p. 346 ; Kunth, enum. 3. p. 540. 

 E. pellucidum, Michx. fl. 2. p. 166 ; Purshfl. \.p.92; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 335 ; Torr. com- 

 pend. p. 350 ; Beck, hot. p. 369. 



Root throwing down long whitish fibres into the mud. Leaves broad and clasping at the 

 base, tapering into a long subulate point, conspicuously cellular, and reticulated with trans- 

 verse bands. Scape very variable in length ; on muddy banks, sometimes only an inch or 

 two high, and in deep water (when only the head of flowers rises above the surface) often 



3- 6 feet long, usually marked with 6-7 stria?. Head from one-third to a fourth of an inch 

 in diameter, hemispherical, crowded with numerous flowers ; the scales or bracts of a dull 

 lead-color (as are the sepals), obovate and membranaceous. Sepals obovate, conduplicate, 

 crowned (as are also the bracts and petals) with short stout white hairs. Corolla white ; the 

 sepals of the sterile flower combined below into a funnel-form tube, the limb of each bearing 

 a small black gland, and in the centre of the flower are two other glands which seem to be 

 abortive ovaries. Stamens 4, somewhat unequal : filaments short : anthers roundish-oval, 

 lead-color. Petals of the fertile flower distinct to the base. Styles 2, distinct nearly to the 

 base, subulate. 



Lakes and swamps : frequent. Fl. August. In Lake George, I have found this species 

 with the scape full 6 feet long. Hooker has clearly proved the identity of the American plant 

 with the rare E. septangulare of Scotland. 



