820 North American Cyperacees 
^.2. Culm many-spiked, 
f . Spikes lateral. 
5. SciRFUS DEBILIS, PuTsh.- 
Culm terete^ with naked sheaths at the base, striate ; spikes 
S — 5, ovate, closely sessile, the culm continued far beyond 
them ; scales broadly ovate, obtuse, mucronulate; style 2-cleft; 
nut broadly obovate, plano-convex, slightly punctate and ob- 
scurely rugulose, (dark brown and shining,) shorter than the 
rigid brisdes. 
S. debilis, Pursh, fl. 1. p. 55; MuliL! gram. p. 34; Big.! fl. Bost. 
ed. 2. p. 21 ; Torr. ! fl. 1. p. 48 ; BecTc, hot. p. 425 ; Gray ! Gram. Sf Cyp^ 
part 2. no. 135; Darlingt. ! fl. Cest. ed. 2. p. 21 ; Ram. 8f Schult. syst.. 
2. p. 128 ; Spreng. syst. 1. p. 206. 
Culms 6 — 18 inches high, cespitose, with a few subulate leaves at the 
base. Sheaths sometimes mucronate. Spikes often solitary, but gene- 
rally 3, (rarely 5 — 6) growing from the side of the culm several inches 
below its summit, 3 — 5 lines in length. Scales roundish-ovate, concave, 
membranaceous, mostly obtuse, with a minute mucronate point, smooth,, 
yellowish on the sides, the centre green. Bristles 4 — 6, strong, overtop- 
ping the nut, retrorsely hispid : but sometimes, instead of bristles, there 
are only rudimentary processes at the base of the nut. Sla7nens 3. 
Style mostly 3-cleft; one of the divisions is sometimes forked above 
the trifurcation. Nut much compressed, very obtuse, the breadth nearly 
equal to the length, slightly pointed with the minute remains of the 
style, when mature of a dark brown or nearly black colour, and shining; 
the surface, when highly magnified, appearing a little waved or rugulose. 
Hab. Borders of lakes and rivulets, particularly in sandy 
soils, Massachusetts to North Carolina. Williamstown, Mas- 
sachusetts, Prof. Dewey I ; near Boston, B. D. Greene!; 
banks of the Connecticut, Prof. Hitchcock! ; shore of Lake 
Ontario, Dr. Gray ! ; Long Island ! ; West Chester, Penn- 
sylvania, Dr. DarUngtoti ! ; Lincolnton, North Carolina, Mr. 
Curtis ! ; Georgia ^ Dr. Baldu-in. 
