Cyperus. 



CYPERACE.E. 



341 



6. Cyperus repens, Ell. (Plate CXXXVII.) Creeping Galingale. 



Rhizoma creeping, tuberiferous ; umbel simple, 4 - 0-rayed ; involucre much longer than 

 the rays ; spikes distichous ; spikelets lO - 14, approximated, linear, compressed, obtuse, 

 somewhat spreading, 12 - 20-flowered ; scales oblong, rather acute, slightly mucronate, 

 scarious on the margin ; nut oblong, triquetrous ; style cleft about half way down. — Ell. sk. 

 1. p. 69 ; Spreng. syst. 1. p. 224 ; Torr. Cyp. p. 264 ; Hook. fl. Dor. -Am. 2. p. 232. C. 

 phymatodes, Muhl. gram. p. 23 ; Torr. fl. I. p. 62 ; Beck, hot. p. 42 ; Darlingt. jl. Cest. 

 p. 592 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 62. C. tuberosus, Pursh, fl. 1. p. 52 (excl. syn.). 



Rhizoma creeping extensively ; the branches often terminating in small oval or roundish 

 tubers, about the size of a large pea. These abound in starch, have a sweetish nut-like taste, 

 and are capable of producing new plants. Culm 12 - 18 inches high, acutely triangular. 

 Leaves a little recurved, broad, strongly carinate, of a yellowish green color. Umbel rather 

 erect; the rays 2-4 inches long. Spikelets about three-fourths of an inch long, for the 

 most part dislichously arranged on the rachis ; the lowest ones on the spike often in pairs or 

 fasciculate. Scales yellowish, conspicuously striate, at length a little spreading at the tips. 

 Stamens 3. Achenium acute. 



Moist sandy places, particularly on banks of rivers and along the seashore. Fl. August. 

 Fr. September. 



tt Spikelets aggregated in a capitate or somewhat umbellate manner at the summit of the rays. 



7. Cyperus filiculmis, Vahl. Slender -stalked Galingale. 



Culm triangular, tuberous at the base, often inclined ; leaves linear ; umbel simple, of 

 1—2 divaricate rays, or wanting ; sheaths of the rays pointless ; heads globose, dense, 

 composed of 15-20 spikelets, which are linear-lanceolate, rather convex, 6 - 10-flowered ; 

 rachilla naked ; scales loose, ovate, obtuse or emarginate, slightly mucronate, scarious on the 

 margin ; achenium obovate-triquetrous, with a short acuminate point. — Vahl, enum. 2. p. 328 ; 

 Pursh, fl. 1. p. 51 ; Spreng. syst. 1. p. 218 ; Torr. Cyp. p. 267 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 95 ; 

 not of Schracl. Nees, Cyp. in Enoll. <J- Mart. fl. Bras. p. 40. C. mariscoides, Ell. sk. 1. 

 p. 67 ; Torr. fl. I. p. 63 ; Digel. fl. Bost. p. 19 ; Beck, hot. p. 422 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. 

 p. 16. C. Killingagoides, Pursh, fl. 1. p. 50 (excl. syn.). Scirpus cyperiformis, Muhl. gram, 

 p. 41. 



Rhizoma creeping. Culms cespitose, rigid and strong, about a foot high, often diverging 

 or almost prostrate, with a cluster of small globose reddish tubers at the base ; the sides striate 

 and rather convex. Leaves 1 - 2 lines wide, dull green. Spikes very often clustered in a 

 single sessile head ; but there are usually also one, two, and sometimes three rays, each 

 bearing a loose head of spikelets ; the heads about an inch in diameter. Spikelets acute. 

 Scales rather open, somewhat coriaceous, with a broad scarious margin, strongly nerved, of a 

 dull yellowish green color. Stamens 3. Style deeply 3-cleft. Achenium two-thirds the length 

 of the scale, striate with dotted lines. 



Dry sterile soils : frequent. Fl. August. Fr. October. 



