Scleria
(from skleria, hardness; alluding to the indurated fruit). Nut Rush. ORD. Cyperaceae. A large genus (about 100 species) of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, dwarf or tall herbs, broadly dispersed over tropical and sub-tropical regions, and extending as far as temperate North America. Flowers unisexual; spikelets small, often fascicled; hypogynous bristles none; bracts at the base of the cyme or panicle leafy. Leaves sometimes grass-like and flaccid, sometimes long, broad, and plicate-nerved. Of the few species introduced, two examples are here described. Both are hardy. For culture, see Cyperus. S. ciliata (hair-fringed). fl., sterile spikes large, many-flowered; clusters terminal; sheaths pubescent June to August. l. two, narrow-linear, rigid, smooth, or with scattered hairs on the margins. Culms slender, rigid, 1 1/2ft. to 2ft. high, smooth below, sparingly fringed on the angles above. South United States, 1823.
S. verticillata (whorled). fl., spikes small; clusters four to six, erect, scattered near the summit of the culm, forming an interrupted spike. June and July. l. narrow-linear or filiform, smooth. Culms very slender, 6in. to 12in. high, smooth. North America, 1825.