346 Nurlh American Cijpcracca;. 
3. FlMBRISTYLIS SPADICEA, VaJlL 
Culm somewhat compressed, nearly naked ; leaves semite- 
rete, filiform, naked at the tln'oat, nearly smooth ; innbel of 
few rays, simple or compound ; spikes ovate-oblong or cylin- 
drical ; involucre of 2 — 3 subulate leaves ; stamens 3 ; style 
broad, fimbriate, slightly bulbous at the base ; nut obovate, 
compressed, punctato-striate. 
F. spadicea, Vahl, enum. 2. p. 294 ; Pursh,fl. 1. p. 49 ; Ram. c^ Sclmlt. 
syst. 2. p. 101 ; BccJc, hot. p. 423 ; Spreng. syst. 1. p. 201. 
F. castanea, Vahl, cnuni. 2. p. 92; PursliI fl. 1. p. 49. 
Scirpus spadiceus, Linn. sp. p. 74 ; Willd. sp. 1. p. 305 ; Walt.jl. Car. 
p. 30; ElUolt, sic. 1. p. S4 ; Muhl. ! gram. p. 36; Torr.! fl. 1. p. 53; 
Gray! Gram. Sf Cyp. part 1. no. 86. 
S. Carolinian us, Lam. ill. 1. p. 142? 
S. ferrugineus, Mulil.! gram. p. 31, (in part). 
S. castaneus, Mirhx.! fl. 1. p. 31, (not o{ Muhl.). 
S. culmotriquetro nudo, panicula laxa, &c. Gron. ! fl. Virg. 1.32. 
Culms 1 — 2 feet high, nearh' terete towards the base, compressed and 
striate above, strong- and rigid, smooth. Leaves 6 — 8 inches high, very 
narrow, somewhat scabrous on the margin towards the summit, chan- 
nelled ; sheaths loose and distichously arranged, the lower ones ferrugin- 
ous. Umhcl patulous, simple, or with the rays a little divided. Livolu- 
cre generally shorter than the umbel; leaves subulate, rather rigid, sca- 
brous on the margin. Spikes 3 — 6 lines long, at first ovate, or ovate- 
oblong, but when old, often cj'lindrical, about two lines in diameter. 
Scales rigid, much dilated, somewhat mucronate, in the young stale 
pale ferruginous, and minutely pubescent, but at length quite smooth 
and shining, and of a dark chestnut colour ; many of the lower ones 
sterile. Stamens 3, (rarely 2) ; filaments broad. .SV^/Zc conspicuously 
ciliate, particularly about the bifurcation, divided about one-third of the 
way down, the segments recurved. Nut obtuse, somewhat lenticular, 
■whitish, thin on the margin, marked with fine striae and lines of impressed 
dots. 
Hab. Wet meadows, generally in brackish places, but 
not confined to the immediate vicinity of salt water. New York ! 
to Florida ! and west to Texas ! Not uncommon in the salt 
