376 North American Cyperaeea. 
to the base. Nut exactly globose, whitish, dull; the surface strongly 
reticulated ; the interstices oblong and deeply pitted. Perigynium con- 
spicuous and resembling a calyx, of a pale greenish colour, equally 3- 
lobed, closely appressed, and partly adnate ; the lobes rather acute. 
Hab. South Carolina, Michmix ; Middle Florida, Dr. 
Chapman ! 
Obs. This plant, which seems to be nearly related to S. 
tessellata, Willd. agrees so minutely with Michaux's S. reticu- 
laris, with the exception of the roughness on the lower part 
of the culm, that I have no doubt of its identity with that 
species. It is the only N. American Scleria in which I have 
found the nut truly reticulated. The species described under 
the same name by Muhlenberg and others is my S. laxa, a very 
distinct plant. 
2, Scleria laxa. 
Culm weak, diftuse, nearly smooth ; fascicles lateral and 
terminal, very remote, on long slender peduncles, somewhat 
branched, loosely flowered ; scales and bracts smooth ; nut 
globose, pitted, and marked in a somewhat spiral manner 
with transverse haiiy rugas ; perigynium 3-lobed ; the lobes 
ovate, appressed. 
S. reticularis Mulil. ! gram. p. 26G ; Pursh ! fl. 1. p. 45 ; Elliott, sk. 
2. p. 601 ? ; Gray ! Gram. Sj- Cyp. part 1. no. 99. 
Culm 12 — 18 inches high, slender, acutely triangular, with the angles 
somewhat winged and slightly scabrous. Leaves 2 lines broad, flat, 
smooth. Fascicles usually 3, one of which is terminal, the others lateral 
and very remote. Peduncles 2 — 6 inches long, compressed, slender, 
and often recurved. Sjnkelels distant, in pairs, disposed as in the pre- 
ceding species. Stamens 2. Nut about a line in diameter, whitish, 
with narrow, brown wrinkles, which are more or less hairy, pitted in an 
obscurely reticulate nianner. Perigynium deeply .3-lobed ; the lol>es 
father acute. 
