358 



CYPERACEiE. 



Eriophorum. 



Sphagnous swamps ; often on high mountains : northern and western parts of the State. 

 Fl. May - June. Fr. July. The North American E. alpinum seems to he identical with 

 the European plant. 



2. Eriophorum vaginatum, Linn. (Plate CXLI.) Harestail. 



Culm terete below, obtusely triangular above, somewhat rigid ; sheaths inflated ; spike 

 oblong-ovate ; scales scarious ; hairs straight, dense ; anthers linear, elongated. — Linn. sp. 

 I. p. 52 ; Engl. hot. t. 873 ; Torr.fi. I. p. 65, and Cyp. p. 335 ; Beck, hot. p. 427 ; Kunth, 

 enum. 2. p. 177. E. cespitosum, Hort. gram. t. 39 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 57. 



Rhizoma creeping. Culms densely cespitose, about 8 inches to one or two feet high ; the 

 lower part clothed with two or three ventricose sheaths, which arc mucronate, or bear only 

 rudimentary (and often discolored) leaves. Radical leaves long, often overtopping the culm, 

 very narrow and almost setaceous. Spike about three-fourths of an inch long. Scales ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, with a broad scarious margin of silver-gray in the young spike, but of 

 a dark livid color in fruit ; several of the lower ones empty, and finally reflexed. Hairs about 

 40, 3-4 times the length of the scale, collected into fascicles of 5 to 7 each, white with a 

 tinge of yellow. Stamens 3 : anthers yellow. Style 3-cleft. Achenium obovate, narrowed 

 below, brown and dull, very obtuse, flattened on the inside, convex externally. 



Deep sphagnous swamps, and on high mountains. Western part of the State, and summit 

 of Mount Marcy. Fl. July. Fr. August. 



** Spikes numerous, 



3. Eriophorum Virginicum, Linn. Rusty Cotton-grass. 



Culm nearly terete below, obtusely triangular above ; leaves flat, very long ; spikes 

 clustered, erect, nearly sessile ; involucre 2 - 3-leaved. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 52 ; Michx. fl. 1. 

 p. 34 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 58 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 92 ; Muhl. gram. p. 49 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 66, and 

 Cyp. p. 338 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 24 ; Beck, bot. p. 437 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 23 ; Kunth, 

 enum. 2. p. 179. 



Rhizoma creeping. Culm 2-4 feet high, slender, smooth, leafy. Leaves 10-18 inches 

 long, 1-3 lines wide, rough on the margin, triangular towards the point. Peduncles 3-4, 

 somewhat umbellate ; each bearing several ovoid nearly sessile crowded spikes, which are 

 about 3 lines long. Scales ovate, acute, striate, pale on the sides, the keel green. Hairs 

 40 - 50, tawny, about three times as long as the scale. Stamen solitary : anther oblong. 

 Achenium oblong, triangular, compressed, attenuated downward ; the summit abruptly pointed. 



Swamps and bog meadows : frequent. Fl. July - August. Fr. September. Easily 

 distinguished from all the other species of the genus, by its clustered erect spikes and tawny 

 wool 



