536 
MONOECIA TRIANDRIA. 
with one or two male florets at the summit, and some frequently intermin- 
gled with the fertile. Bracteal leaves very small. Scales oblong lanceo- 
late, very acute, excepting the midrib membranaceous. Stamens three. 
Corolla of the fertile floret at first shorter than the scale, increasing with 
age, becoming long, tapering, nerved, very slightly serrulate along the mar- 
gins, somewhat contracted at the summit of the seed, two-cleft at the sum- 
mit. Stigmas two, very long. Seed oval, compressed. 
The male florets in this species appear to grow very irregularly; they are 
sometimes on the summit of the spikes, and sometimes occupy near the 
whole of one of the middle spikes. A specimen resembling this very much 
was sent me by Dr. Muhlenberg as the C. Paniculata, but the C. Paniculata 
of Europe is certainly distinct. 
Grows in swamps and damp soils. 
Flow r ers March— April; one of our earliest species. 
### Spicis sexu dis- 
tinclis; spica mascula 
solitaria. 
19. CjEspitosa. Lin. 
C. spicis foemineis, 
cylindraceis, obtusis, 
subternis, distantibus, 
infima brevissime pe- 
dunculata; fructibus 
ovatis, obtusis, squama 
oblonga obtusa majori- 
bus; foliis patulis. 
*** Sterile and fer- 
tile spikes distinct; ste- 
rile spike solitary. 
Fertile spikes cylin- 
drical, obtuse, general- 
ly 3, distant, the lowest 
on a very short pedun- 
cle; fruit ovate, ob- 
tuse, larger than the 
oblong, obtuse scale; 
leaves expanding. 
Sp. pi. 4. p. 287. Muhl. Gram. p. 264. Nutt. 2. p. 204. 
Stem slender, triquetrous, striate, twelve to eighteen inches high. Leaves 
linear, acute, scabrous along the margin, as long as the stem. Sterile spikes 
one to two; fertile alternate, nearly sessile, long, slender, three to four, 
sometimes bearing sterile florets at the summit. Scale linear lanceolate, 
dark coloured with a green midrib. Capsule oblong. Bracteal leaves long. 
Grows in boggy, turfy soils. Carolina, Dr. Schweinitz. 
Flowers — 
20. Crinita. 
C. spicis masculis Sterile spikes 2, fer- 
geminis, foemineis qua- tile 4, distant, pedun- 
