360 



^VEEDS AXD USEFUL PLAXT5. 



Boot (or rhizcma) creeping exter = ■ ■ : ^ ; ; i- r , — - :. o &t r cjls 



branches ofien terminating in ri(&f ' - r : ; : : . trioue- 



trous, very smooth. Leaves 9-lS . . . ;-:::'j^cr 



slightly scabrous on the margin, y : :; . - r ' 1 - _ or 



3 inches long. Za^joZziCT-e usually "s - -r , . . . . . .. : in 



length, a little compressed, obtuse L ; = . r^e 



common rachis, — ^the lowest ones often in pairs or fasciculate : : ' : : : 



nerved, pale tawny. xSi/Zes 3, united in one, distinct at sun-'- -. _i-..7;f us. :b- 

 long, minutely p-'onctate. 



Banks of streams, pastures, and cultivated grounds : X:- Eu^;-- i, west and south. 



Ohs. This species is, fortunately, ratlier rare, ii: Xortheni and Mid- 

 dle States : but it is said to be a tronblesonie pi:.:.:. :;i : .ii. 



3, C. rotun'dns, i.. var. Hy'dra, Grey. Eliizoma •: r : :t- 

 iferous ; umbel mostly .simple. 3 - -l-rayei involucre 2 - Z-\ ; ut 

 as long as the rays ; spikes distichous fspikelets 4-9 on eacj rav. I..::c> 

 linear, acute, much compressed, 10--40-fiowered, dark ce.:s:iiu:-pirp!e. 

 Hydra Ctpeeus. " ^s'ut-grass," of S. Carolir.a. •• Coee-^rass." ? 



Bftizoma creeping, — ^its branches ending in tubers r.ziily h. 'f i:.:".! vi diameter 

 Culm 3-S and 12 inches high, triangular, smooth, naked. Lea-Li^ all radical, shorter than 

 the culm, about 2 hues wide,' acute, shghtly channelled, often recurved, somewhat gla'i- 

 cous. Involvxre sometimes shorter than the umbc-1 . I?.^ ' c f th - -i -2 - Z ir. ches long, 

 erect or slightly spreading. /SpiA-es nearly an in :i. i : ■ : - " i i. ^ :.l:>ngthe 

 upper part of the rays,— the fccles closely imhri; - : i. gre-:n 



keel, not nerved, shghtly mucronate. Styles 3, 'ci. . A}:eiie 

 triquetrous. 



Sandy fields, sand drifts, along the Sea-coast : Virginia to Florida, and Arkansas. H. 

 All summer. 



Ohs. This is stated to be one of the greatest pests ^ e-ithern 



Planters. It seems to be an inhabitant of all the 4 qnar:rrs c : .1 :be. 

 IMr. Elliott gives the following account of it : — • This iira^s . i^ ":o- 

 comiug a great scourge to our planters. It sh; -'^; frtni tho ' n.-: :; its 

 stem a thread-like fibre, which descends perpon.'.i : ..io.'v ti' Ir o-^. 

 and then produces a small tuber. From this, h-tio iitoi ni.ooi tncin 1 in 

 every direction, producing new tubers at iiit-rvais ot o -ir r io:i::-. and 

 these immediately shoot up stems to tne itiriace of the earth, an] :.n . vr 

 out lateral fibres to form a new progeny. This ]jrocess is iuterniiiiaii^ie. — 

 and it is curious to see what a chain or net-work of plants and tn': tr.- oan. 

 with some care, be dug up in a loose soil. Th t on';^ disciv- 

 ered, by which this grass can be extirpated, i- t . i n.n :r h.e the 

 spots in which it grows every day through the whole seas tn. In their 

 perpetual efibrts to thi'ow their leaves to the light, the roots become ex- 

 hausted and perish, — or if a few appear th- r.ex: -yrirn. they can easily 

 be dug up." J. S. Skixxer, Esq.. in a ht i r . : ' no: _ a n nni n 

 to the South, in the spring of 1846, sent to in: an i:.:p:::v:: ::in::n of 

 a Cyperaceous plant, which I suspect to be this spr:ies : and says of 

 it, — '• I send you inclosed a spear or shoot of the vilest of ahi n:s'n the 

 Coco-grass,— which has taken possession of, and caused to be a' ■::; :::d. 

 some of the best Sugar estates in Louisiana. Of all thiugs it s:..i h t : 

 be the most tenacious of life ; and nothing serves so well to propagate 

 it, as to plough and re-plough, with a vi^w to destroy it.'" 



