CYPERACEAE. 



53 



Achenes smooth, not stalked. 

 Achene wrinkled, stalked. 



1. R. distans. 



2. R. stipitata. 



1. Rynchospora distans (Michx.) Vahl. DIS- 

 TANT-CLUSTERED BEAKED-RUSH. (Fig. 81.) Peren- 

 nial, pale green. Culms tufted, slender, \-2% tall; 

 leaves' filiform or nearly so by the involute margins ; 

 spikelets ovoid, about I*" long, several together in 

 terminal and axillary clusters; perianth-bristles 

 mostly 6, usually upwardly barbed, about as long 

 as the achene ; achenes oval or oblong-oval, nearly 

 1" long, excluding the broad conic smooth tubercle. 

 [Schoenus distans Michx. ; Rynchospora dommiicensis 

 A. H. Moore; R. fusca of Lefroy.] 



Frequent in marshes. Native. Southeastern United 

 States and West Indies. Flowers in summer and autumn. 



2. Rynchospora stipitata Chapm. STIPI- 

 TATE BEAKED-RUSH. (Fig. 82.) Perennial, 

 bright green. Culms tufted, 2*-3i tall, arch- 

 ing above, 3-angled; leaves elongated, 2 "-5" 

 wide, smooth ; spikelets about 4" long, nar- 

 rowly ovoid, numerous, in 4-5 compound axil- 

 lary corymbs ; perianth-bristles 6-8, upwardly 

 barbed ; achenes lenticular, 1-3 in a spikelet, 

 orbicular-obovoid, stalked, the body about I" 

 long, finely transversely wrinkled, less than 

 as long as the bristles; tubercle conic, setose. 

 [Rynchospora florida of Lefroy.] 



Frequent along marshes. Native. Florida. 

 Flowers in summer and autumn, its inflorescence 

 much infested by a black smut. 



8. MARISCTJS [Hall.] Zinn. 



Perennial leafy sedges, the spikelets oblong or fusiform, few-flowered, vari- 

 ously 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 to globose, smooth or 

 longitudinally striate. Tubercle none. [Greek, referring to the branched in- 

 florescence of some species.] About 30 species, natives of tropical and tem- 

 perate regions. Type species: Schoenus Mariscus L. 



