338 Nor/h American Cyjurnce^.. 
§ 2. Spikes numerous. 
5. Eriophorum Virgin icum, Lhni. 
Culm nearly teret3 below, obtusely triangular above; leaves> 
flat, very long; spikes clustered, erect, nearly sessile; inyo" 
lucre 2 — S-leaved- 
E, Virginicnni, Lvin. sp. 77; Willi, sp^ 313 ; VaJd, enum. 2. p. 390; 
Rceni. SfSchult. syst. 2. p. 159; Spreng. syst. 1. p. 214; Walt.fl,. Car, 
p. 71; Michx. ! fl. 1. p. 34; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 58 ; Elliott, sk. 1. p. 92 -, 
Muhl! gram. p. 49 ; Tair..' fl. 1. p. 66 ; Big, fl. Bost. ed. 2. p. 24 ; 
Beck! hot. p. 437 ; Gray ! Gram, d^ Cyp. part 1,, no 89 ; Darlingt. fl.. 
Cest. ed. 2. p. 23, 
E. spica compacta ereeta, Sac. Gron.fl. Virg. p. 132, 
Culm 2 — 4 feet high, leafy, smooth. Leaves 10 — 18 inches long,, 
1 — 3 lines wide, scabi'ous on the margin, somewhat triangular at the 
point; sheaths closely inTesting the culm. Involucre mostly of two un- 
equal leaves, the longer 3 — 6 inches in length. PeduJicles 3 — 4, short,, 
somewhat umbellate, each bearing several nearly sessils crowded spikes. 
Spikes ovate, (when young acute,) about 3 lines long. Scales ovate^ 
acute, striate, the inferior ones empty, the sides pale ferruginous, the 
keel green. Hairs 40 — 50 in each flower, of a reddish colour, in the 
mature spike 3 times as long as the scale. Stamen solitary ; anther 
oblong. Nut oblong, triangular, compressed, attenuated downward, the 
EUinmit abruptly pointed, 
Hab. Swamps and bog meadows; Hudson's Bay to Flo- 
rida! and west to the Mississippi! — July — August. 
Obs. In shady situations this plant grows very slender, 
with long narrow leaves, in which state it is the E.angusUfolmmy 
Muhl.! gram. p. 48, but not of Roth and other botanists. The 
erect subsessile spikes, monandrous flowers and reddish hairs of 
this plant readily distinguish it from all the other North Ameri-. 
can species of Eriophorum. 
