[Cladium P. Br. Civ. & Nat. Hist. Jam. 114. Hyponym. 1756.]

Perennial leafy sedges, similar to the Rynchosporas, the spikelets oblong or fusiform, few-flowered, variously clustered. Scales imbricated all around, the lower empty, the middle ones mostly subtending imperfect flowers, the upper usually fertile. Perianth none. Stamens 2 or sometimes 3. Style 2-3-cleft, deciduous from the summit of the achene, its branches sometimes 2-3-parted. Achene ovoid or globose, smooth or longitudinally striate. Tubercle none. [Greek, referring to the branched inflorescence of some species.]

About 40 species, natives of tropical and temperate regions. Type species: Schoenus Mariscus L.

I. Mariscus Mariscoides (Muhl.) Kuntze. Twig-Rush. Water Bog-Rush

Fig. 857

Schoenus mariscoides Muhl. Gram. 4. 1817.

Cladium mariscoides Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3: 372. 1836.

M. mariscoides Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 755. 1891.

Culm slender, erect, rather stiff, obscurely 3-angled, smooth, 1 1/2°-3° tall. Leaves about 1" wide, concave, with a long compressed tip, nearly smooth; umbels 2 or 3, compound, the 1 or 2 axillary, slender stalked; spikelets oblong, narrowed at both ends, acute, 2 1/2" long, capitate in 3's-10's on the raylets; scales chestnut-brown, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, the midvein slightly excurrent; upper scale subtending a perfect flower with 2 stamens and a filiform 3-cleft style, the next lower one with 2 stamens and an abortive ovary; achene ovoid, acute, finely longitudinally striate, about 1" long.

In marshes, Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Florida, Kentucky and Iowa. July-Sept.

2. Mariscus Jamaicensis (Crantz) Britton. Saw-Grass

Fig. 858

Cladium jamaicense Crantz, Inst, 1: 362.

1766. Schoenus effusus Sw. Prodr. 19. 1788. Cladium effusum Torr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. 3:

374. 1836.

Culm stout, 3°-9° high, bluntly 3-angled. Leaves very long, 3"-10" wide, minutely serrulate on the margins; umbels several or numerous, decompound, forming large panicles; spikelets mostly 2-5 together at the ends of the raylets, narrowly ovoid, acute, 2"-2 1/2" long; uppermost scale subtending a perfect flower; stamens 2; achene ovoid, abruptly sharp-pointed, wrinkled, narrowed to the base, 2 mm. long.

In swamps, Virginia to Florida and Texas and in the West Indies. Aug-Sept.