306 North American Cyj)crac£<£. 
Culm 8 inches long, sulcate, rather soft. Sjyikc nearly one- third of an 
inch in length. Nut lenticular, black and polished. 
Hab. Texas, T. Drummond! 
Obs* This variety has mudi the appearance of E. obtttsa, 
.but it is easily distinguished by its small black shining nut, and 
minute tubercle. 
^ 4. SjnTcc ovate; glumes coriaceous; nut compressed, sulcate 
and pitted; tubercle rostrate; h'lstles <5, rigid ; style 3- 
clcft. BOTHROCARPA. 
11. Eleocharis simplex. 
Culm terete, filiform, striate ; spike ovate, somewhat acute ; 
scales ovate, obtuse, whitish, rather loose; bristles retrorsely 
scabrous, as long as the nut ; style 3-cleft ; nut obovate, bi- 
convex, longitudinally furrowed ; the furrows strongly pitted ; 
tubercle conical, compressed, produced into a beak nearly one- 
third the length of the nut. 
Scirpus simplex, Elliott.' sk. 1. p. 76; Curt. ! fl. Wilming. no. 59; 
Schult. viant. 2. p.. 74. 
Culm erect, 12 — IS inches high, very slender, clothed at the base with 
one or two obliquely truncate, mucronate sheaths. Spike 3 — 4 lines 
long, 15 — 20-flowered. Scales of a firm coriaceous texture, but sca- 
rious on the margin, somewhat shining, the sides of a light chestnut 
colour. Bristles remarkably strong, a little overtopping the nut. Sta- 
mens 3. Style deeply 3-cleft. Nut somewhat gibbous in front, nearly 
as long as the scale, of a light brown colour, marked on each side with 8 
or 9 lines and deep pitted grooves, so that it exhibits a reticulated appear- 
ance. Tubercle somewhat distinct around the base, very acute, of a firm 
and rather woody texture. 
Hab. Wet places. South Carolina, jEZZ/o/^.'; Wilming- 
ton, North Carolina, Mr. Curtis ! 
Obs. a very distinct species, apparently confined to the 
Southern States. 
