524 CYPERACEE. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 
of the style (tubercled). Perennials, with jointed and leafy culms. Spikes 
small, disposed in axillary and terminal corymbs or clusters. é 
$1. ERIOCHUETE. Bristles of the perianth 6, plumose. 
1. R. plumosa, Ell. Culms (6'-12' high) and leaves filiform ; spikes 
few, in about three small clusters at the summit of the culm; nut nearly globu- 
lar, strongly wrinkled, pointed with the short ovate smooth tubercle ; bristles 
rather longer than the nut, plumose throughout or nearly to the summit. — Low 
pine barrens, Florida to North Carolina. June and July. 
Var. intermedia. Culms taller (1°-2° high); leaves narrowly linear; 
clusters 4-6, forming an interrupted spike at the summit of the culm ; nut obo- 
vate, pointed with the conical-beaked pubescent tubercle; bristles plumose only 
at the base, or below the middle. — Sandy pine barrens, often dry places, Florida. 
2. R. semiplumosa, Gray. Culms erect, rigid (1°-2° high); leaves 
narrowly linear ; spikes oblong-ovate, dark brown, crowded in a terminal head, 
or rarely in a remote axillary one; nut globose-obovate, faintly wrinkled, pointed 
with the short broadly conical smooth tubercle; bristles exceeding the tubercle, 
plumose below the middle.— Dry sandy ridges, near the coast, West Florida. 
July and Aug. — The leaves, like those of the preceding species, have a joint- 
like contraction near the middle. 
3. R. oligantha, Gray. Culms (6'-12! high) and smooth leaves bristle 
. like, reclining ; corymb terminal, of 3-6 large (4" long) ovate-lanceolate whitish 
stalked spikes ; nut oval, lenticular, faintly wrinkled ; tubercle dilated at the base, 
conical, flat; bristles longer or shorter than the nut, plumose below the middle. 
— Low open pine barrens, Florida to North Carolina. June and July. 
$2. RHYNCHOSPORA Prorer. Bristles of the perianth 3-20, smooth, 
scabrous, or hispid. 
_* Nut transversely wrinkled or uneven : bristles denticulate or hispid spend 
+ Bristles shorter than the nut. 
4 R. rariflora, Ell. Culms and leaves bristle-form ; corymbs 2 2-3, - 
=k spreading; spikes few and scattered, ovate; nut broadly obovate, bicon- 
vex, strongly wrinkled, twice as long as the 6 fragile bristles; t tubercle flat, 
broadly conical, 4 as long as the nut. — Low grassy pine barrens, Foris = 
North Carolina. June and July. — Culms 19-139 long, HAE reclining. . 
Spikes pedicelled. 
.5. R. Torreyana, Gray. Culms erect, slender, ien leaves nar 
rowly linear or bristle-form ; corymbs 1 —3, remote, erect ; nut obo —— 
twice as long as the 6 bristles ; tubercle compressed-conical, dilated at the Fal 
è the length of the nut.— Wet ground, South Carolina, and northward. v 
— Culm 1° - 39 high. Corymbs po setae and sonia — 
few-flowered and capitate. 
is e tered oe Culms (29-39 high) S-angled ; leaves narrowly 
at nat broadly obovato Meosres, il v v 
8, distant, open or contracted ; spikes ovate, He s 
