304 North American CijjJcracca. 
appeaf by comparing the characters of the two species ; the 
latter differs in its obovate-oblong nut, much smaller and far 
less dilated tubercle and bifid style. I have specimens of E. 
ohtusa from Oahu which agree minutely with the N. American 
plant. It is very doubtful whether the E. ovata has been 
found within the limits of our Flora. 
13, spikes elongated, tapering to a blunt point; bristles 
scarcely longer than the nut. 
Hab. Hills, Waltham, Massachusetts, B. D. Greene, 
Esq.! 
Obs. In my specimens of this variety, the tubercle is as 
broad as the summit of the nut, but the plant can by no means 
be considered specifically distinct from E. ohtusa. 
9. El^EOCHARIS ALBID»,->. 
Culm filiform, terete, with a groove on one side; spike glo- 
bose-ovate, many (20 — 30)-flowered; scales ovate, mostly 
obtuse, coriaceous, subcarinate; bristles longer than the nut 
(red); style 3-cleft; nut broadly obovate, obtusely angular in 
front, dull. 
Culms cespitose, rather wiry, finely striate, clothed with cuspidate 
sheaths at the base. Spike 2\ lines long, thick, mostly obtuse. Scales 
generally whitish, or light brown, when old sonaetimes rather acute, but 
in the young state obtuse. Bristles 6, of a reddish colour both in the 
young and the mature state, rigid, densely hispid downward. Stamens 
3; anthers oblong. Nut brown when ripe, smooth but not polished. 
Tubercle one-third or one-fourth the length of the nut, quite free round 
the base ; the point rather acute. 
Hab. Wet sandy places, particularly near the sea shore. 
On the coast of East Florida, and on Talbot Island, Georgia, 
Dr. Baldwin! ; near New Orleans, and at Barataria, Louisiana, 
Dr. Ingalls! 
Obs. This species resembles at first sight, E. capitata, but 
it differs in its somewhat angular and dull nut, 3-cleft style, 
and much more coriaceous scales. 
