280 



CYPERACEAE 



1. Rynchospora alba (L.) Vahl. 

 White Beaked-rush. Fig. 672. 



Schoenus albus L. Sp. PI. 44. 1753. 

 Ryncliospora alba Vahl, Enum. 2: 236. 1806. 



Pale green; rootstocks short; culms slender or 

 filiform, glabrous, 1.5-5 dm. tall. Leaves bristle-like, 

 0.5-1 mm. wide, shorter than the culm ; spikelets in 

 1-4 dense corymbose clusters, narrowly oblong, acute 

 at both ends, 4—6 mm. long ; scales ovate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, nearly white, acute; bristles 9-15, down- 

 wardly barbed, slender, about as long as the achene 

 and tubercle ; achene obovate-oblong, smooth, pale 

 brown, lenticular; tubercle triangular-subulate, flat, 

 one-half as long as the achene. 



In bogs, Transition and Canadian Zones; Yosemite Valley, 

 California, north to Alaska, east to _Idaho, Minnesota, Ken- 

 tucky, Florida, and Newfoundland. Europe and Asia. Type 

 locality: Europe. 



2. Rynchospora capitellata (Michx.) A'ahl. 

 Brownish Beaked-rush. Fig. 673. 



Schoenus capitellatus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 36. 1803. 

 Rynchospora capitellata Vahl, Enum. 2: 235. 1805. 



Rootstocks slender; culms trigonous, smooth, slender, erect. 

 2-10 dm. high. Leaves flat, 1-3 mm. wide, shorter than the culm ; 

 spikelets glomerate in few or several axillary dense clusters, 

 oblong, narrowed at both ends, 3-4 mm. long; scales brown, 

 lanceolate ; bristles about 6, downwardly barbed or rarely smooth, 

 about as long as the achene and tubercle ; achene obovate, brown, 

 smooth ; tubercle subulate. 



Sphagnum bog near Brookings, Oregon {Morton E. Peck) ; Michigan to 

 Arkansas, Maine, and Georgia. The Oregon specimen is provisionally re- 

 ferred to this species, but the specimens collected are young, and achenes 

 have not been seen. 



10. MARISCUS (Hall.) Zinn, Cat. Hort. Goett. 79. 1757. 

 Perennial leafy sedges, 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 

 to globose, smooth or longitudinally striate. Tubercle none. [Latin, referring to the swamp 

 or marsh habitat of some species.] 



About 40 species, natives of tropical and temperate regions. Besides the following, two others occur in the 

 cast-ern United States. Tvpe species, Schoenus mariscus L. 



1. Mariscus calif ornicus (S. Wats.) Britton. 



Saw-grass. 



Fig. 674. 



Cladiuvi vwiisciis californicuin S. Wats. Bot. Calif. 2: 224. 1880. 



Culm stout, 1-2 m. high, obtusely 3-angled. Leaves very 

 long, glabrous, 7-10 mm. wide, the margins spinulose-serrulate ; 

 umbels numerous, decompound, forming a large panicle; spike- 

 lets glomerate at the ends of the raylets, narrowly ovoid, acute, 

 about 5 mm. long; scales acute, striate; uppermost scale sub- 

 tending a perfect flower; stamens 2; achene ovoid, pointed, 

 smooth, shining, about 2 mm. long. 



Swamps, Sonoran Zones; .San Bernardino and Inyo Counties and re- 

 corded from near San Gabriel, Los Angeles County; Nevada; Arizona; 

 northern Mexico. Type locality: near San Gabriel, California. 



