North American Cyjyeracece. 278 
I have an opportunity of seeing more specimens of it. If its 
characters prove to be constant, it may take the name of C. 
Lecontii. My Florida specimen has longer spikelets, and 
more numerous florets than the plant sent to me by Dr. Ingalls ; 
but in other respects there is no essential difference. 
26. Cyperus leptos, Schdtes. 
Culm triquetrous, fragile; umbel compound or decompound, 
many-rayed; involucre 2-leaved, one or both of the leaves 
shorter than the umbel ; involucels ; spikelets 3 — 5 in a loose 
head, linear-lanceolate, 12 — 20-flowered; scales ovate-lanceo- 
late, acute, carinate ; nut minute, (white) depressed, triangular, 
verrucose. 
C. leptos, Sclmlt. mani, 2. p. 105. 
C. gracilis, MuhU. gram. p. 18. [noioi R. Brown ;) Elliott, sk. 1, p. 68; 
Spreng. syst. 1. p. 220. 
Root fibrous. Culm 1 — 2 feet high, tender and herbaceous, often clothed 
with several leafless sheaths at the base. Leaves radical, shorter than 
the culm. Umbel of 12 — 15 filiform rays, generally compound and 
often decompound. Involucre 2-leaved ; the leaves very unequal. 
Ochreee obliquely truncate. Spikelets 4 — 5 lines long, very slender, 
usually about 12 -flowered, but sometimes bearing as many as 20 or 
more florets. Scales reddish brown, yellow on the side, membrana- 
ceous, indistinctly 3-nerved, slightly mucronate. Interior scales narrow. 
Stamens 3. Style 3-cleft a little more that one-third of the way down ; 
the divisions recurved. Nut short and thick, shining, covered with 
minute warts. 
Hab. In damp soils, North Carolina, to Alabama. Near 
Wilmington, North Carolina, Mr. Curtis!; South Carolina, 
Elliott!; Georgia, Muhlenberg !, LcConte!; Middle Florida, 
Dr. Chapnan ! ; Alabama, Dr. Gates! 
Obs. Very near a Cyperus from Surinam, in my herba- 
rium, and only to be distinguished by its more acute scales. 
and shorter verrucose nut. 
27. Cyperus inflexus, Muhl. 
Umbel 1 — 2-rayed, contracted or sessile ; involucre 3-leaved, 
very long ; spikelets collected into ovate heads, oblong-linear, 
