Xyris platylepis Chapm.

Xyris platylepis Chapm. Fl. S. U. S. 501. 1860
Tall, somewhat bulbous; leaves linear, 25-50 cm. long, 5-8 (-10) mm. broad, somewhat obtuse at the apex, smooth; sheath occupying one third to one half the length of the leaf, tawny or violaceous, opaque, much dilated at the base; peduncles 50-90 cm. tall, 1.5-2 mm. broad, bicostate or indistinctly multicostate above, many-striate beneath, often scabrid on the ridges, elsewhere smooth, the peduncular sheath 10-15 cm. long, rusty and shining below; spike many-flowered, ellipsoid or oblong, 12-25 mm. long, 8-10 mm. thick, the outer barren bracts ovate-orbicular, 2-3 mm. long, the flowering bracts obovate-orbicular, 6-7 mm. long and broad, rounded-truncate, entire at the apex, pale-tawny or rusty, with a usually transversely elliptic or orbicular dorsal area 1.5-2 mm. long and 2-3 mm. broad; lateral sepals linearlanceolate, about 5 mm. long, 0.5-1 mm. broad, acute at the apex or nearly so; keel narrow and entire below, somewhat broader and lacerate or shortly lacerate-fimbriate from the middle to the apex; seeds ellipsoid, about 0.5 mm. long.
Type locality: Low sandy places. Florida. Distribution: Virginia to Florida and Louisiana.