Eleocharis. 



CYPERACEiE. 



317 



2. Eleocharis olivacea, Torr. Olive-fruited Spike-rush. 



Culms filiform (often diffuse), compressed, sulcate, soft ; spike ovate, usually somewhat 

 obtuse, many-flowered ; scales ovate, obtuse, membranaceous ; bristles 6-8, nearly twice 

 as long as the nut ; style 2-cleft ; achenium obovoid-lenticular (olivaceous), dull ; tubercle 

 conical, rostrate, distinct. — Torr. Cyp. p. 300. Scirpus intermedius, Gray, Grain. <§• Cyp. 

 part 1. no. 80 (excl. syn.). 



Culms cespitose, erect, diffuse or somewhat decumbent, usually about a span long and 

 nearly a line in diameter, but often dwarfish and slender, of a soft flexible texture, with 

 mucronate sheaths at the base. Spikes 3-4 lines long, 20 - 30-flowered, sometimes rather 

 acute. Scales closely or somewhat loosely imbricated : one or two of the lowest shorter and 

 bract-like ; the others with a narrow scarious margin. Bristles pretty stout, retrorsely hispid. 

 Stamens 3. Achenium smooth, sometimes a little shining, dark olive when ripe. Tubercle 

 rather free around the base, acute or somewhat obtuse, about one-third the length of the 

 achenium. 



Wet sandy places, generally partly under water ; Long Island, near Babylon, &c. Fl. 

 August. Fr. September. 



3. Eleocharis rostellata. Beaked Spike-rush. 



Culm compressed, sulcate ; spike ovoid -lanceolate, acute ; scales ovate, obtuse, loose, 

 somewhat cartilaginous, with a scarious margin ; bristles 4-6, longer than the achenium, 

 strong ; style 3-cleft ; achenium biconvex, shining ; tubercle conical-rostrate, confluent, rather 

 obtuse, discolored. — Scirpus rostellatus, Torr. Cyp. p. 318. 



Culm 12-15 inches high, firm and tough, distinctly compressed and deeply striate or 

 sulcate. Spike 3-4 lines long, 12 - 15-flowered. Scales a little open by the protrusion of 

 the ripe fruit, light brown. Bristles conspicuously hispid downward. Stamens 3 : filaments 

 twice as long as the achenium, and unusually broad : anthers large and elongated, exserted. 

 Achenium very convex in front but scarcely triangular, shining, but, under the lens, uneven 

 with obscure longitudinal ridges ; the tubercle appearing like a discolored corky continuation 

 of the achenium. 



Penn-Yan, Yates county (Dr. Sartwell). J have concluded to remove this plant from the 

 genus Scirpus to Eleocharis, as it agrees with the latter in habit, and the discolored summit 

 of the achenium may be regarded as a confluent tubercle. 



4. Eleocharis intermedia, Schultes. Intermediate Spike-rush. 



Culm setaceous, diffuse, compressed, angular and sulcate ; spike lanceolate-ovoid, 8 - 10- 

 flowered ; scales ovate-lanceolate, somewhat acute ; bristles longer than the achenium ; style 

 3-cleft ; achenium obovoid, compressed, with an obtuse angle in front, attenuated at the base, 



44* 



