356 



CYPERACE^E. 



SciRPUS. 



Subgenus TRICHOPHORUM. L. C. Rich. ; Torr. Cyp. p. 330. 



Bristles 6, much longer than the achenium, capillary, tortuous, smooth or merely pubescent 

 (not hispid). Style 3-cleft, simple at the base, deciduous. Achenium triangular, somewhat 

 compressed. — Culm leafy. Umbel decompound. Scales of the spike membranaceous. 



As Trichophorum differs from Scirpus only in its very long tortuous and nearly smooth bristles of the perigynium, 

 and is moreover connected with the latter by S. brunneus and S. divaricatus, it cannot rank higher than a sub- 

 genus. 



11. Scirpus (Trichophorum) Eriophorum, Michx. Brown Wool-grass. 



Culm obtusely triangular above, nearly terete below ; umbel terminal, very compound ; 

 involucre many-leaved, very long ; spikes ovate ; scales lanceolate, appressed ; bristles much 

 exserted, and investing the mature spikes ; achenium smooth. — Michx. fl. 1. p. 33 ; Torr. 

 fl.l. p. 50, and Cyp. p. 330 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 22 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 23 ; Kunth, 

 enum. 2. p. 170. S. eriophorus, Vahl, enam. 2. p. 282. S. thyrsiflorus, Willd. enum. 1. 

 p. 78. S. cyperinus, Kunth, I. c. Trichophorum cyperinum, Pers. syn. 1. p. 69 ; Pursh, 

 fl.l.p 57 ; Muhl. gram. p. 47 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 91 . t. 3. /. 4 ; Beck, hot. p. 426. Eriophorum 

 cyperinum, Linn. sp. (ed. 2.) 1. p. 77. 



Culm 18 inches to 5 feet high, leafy nearly to the summit. Leaves 1-2 feet long, flat 

 above, carinate toward the base, rough on the margin ; the sheaths brownish and scarious at 

 the throat. Involucre of several very long leaves ; their sheathing bases brownish or nearly 

 black. Umbel or panicle usually very large, loose and more or less pendulous, but in the 

 smaller forms somewhat contracted ; the spikes all distinct and pedunculate, or clustered 

 3-5 together at the extremity of the rays. Scales rusty colored when mature, with a green 

 keel. Bristles (when extended) 8-10 times the length of the achenium, brownish, completely 

 covering the spike, and thus giving it a woolly appearance. Stamens 3. Achenium flat on the 

 inside, obtuse-angled externally, white or brownish, acuminate, dull. 



Swamps and wet meadows : common. Fl. July. Fr. August - September. A very 

 conspicuous plant : easily recognized by its large panicle of very numerous spikes, covered 

 with woolly hairs. 



12. Scirpus (Trichophorum) lineatus, Michx. Loose-Jloivered Wool-grass. 



Culm triangular ; umbels terminal and lateral, at length nodding ; involucre 1 - 2-leaved, 

 shorter than the. umbels ; spikes oblong, pedunculate ; scales ovate, acuminate, somewhat 

 patulous at the tip, carinate ; bristles a little exserted. — Michx. fl. 1. p. 32 ; Pursh, fl. 1. 

 p. 56 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 87 ; Torr. fl. I. p. 51, and Cyp. p. 322 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 171. S. 

 pendulus, Muhl. gram. p. 44. Trichophorum lineatum, Pers. syn. 1. p. 69 ; Beck, hot. 

 p. 427. Isolepis lineata, Rozm. <§• Schult. syst. 2. p. 117. 



Culm 1 - 2\ feet high, very leafy, distinctly triangular. Leaves rough on the margin ; the 



