SEDGE FAMILY. 279 
8. Rynchospora axillaris (Lam. ) Brit- 
ton. Capitate Beaked-rush. (Fig. 655.) 
Schoenus axillaris Yam. Tabl. Encycl. 1:137. 1791. 
Rhynchospora cephalantha A. Gray, Ann. Lyc. N. 
Y. 3: 218. 1835. 
Rhynchospora axillaris Britton, Bull. Torr. Club, 
15: 104. 1888. 
Culms stout, 3-angled, 2°-4° tall. Leaves 
flat, keeled, 1/’-114’’ wide; spikelets spindle- 
shaped, 214-3’ long, exceedingly numerous, 
in several short-peduncled axillary and terminal 
very dense globose heads sometimes 10’ in di- 
ameter; scales dark brown, ovate-oblong, acute; 
bristles usually 6, longer than or equalling the 
achene and tubercle, downwardly or upwardly 
barbed; achene broadly obovate, brown, smooth, 
lenticular; tubercle subulate, about as long as 
the achene, somewhat decurrent on its edges. 
In swamps, Long Island to Florida and Louisi- 
ana, near the coast. July—Sept. 
Rynchospora axillaris microcéphala Britton, ‘Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 11: 89. 1892. 
_ Heads only 4''-5'’ in diameter; spikelets 112'' long; achene one-half as large as that of the type. 
New Jersey to Florida and Louisiana. 
g. Rynchospora fusca (L.) R. & S. Brown 
Beaked-rush. (Fig. 656.) 
Schoenus fuscus I, Sp. Pl. Ed. 2, 1664. 1763. 
Rhynchospora fusca R. & S. Syst. 2:88. 1817. 
Rootstocks short, culms slender, 3-angled, smooth, 
tufted, 6/-18’ tall. Leaves setaceous, channeled, 
scarcely 1%4/’ wide, much shorter than the culm; 
spikelets spindle-shaped, acute, about 2%4’/’ long, 
several, or rather numerous, in 1-4 loose clusters; 
scales oblong-lanceolate, brown, shining, concave; 
bristles 6, upwardly barbed, often unequal, the longer 
ones usually exceeding the achene and tubercle; 
achene narrowly obovate, turgid-lenticular, smooth, 
shining; tubercle triangular-subulate, nearly as long 
as the achene, its margins serrulate or nearly smooth. 
In bogs, New Brunswick to Delaware, west along the 
St. Lawrence and Great Lakes to Michigan. Also in 
Europe. July—Aug. 
1o. Rynchospora gracilénta A. Gray. 
Slender Beaked-rush. (Fig. 657. 
Rhynchospora gracilenta A. Gray, Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3: 
216. 1835. 
Culms very slender or filiform, smooth, obtusely 
triangular, 1°-2° tall. Leaves flat or becoming invo- 
lute in drying, rather less than 1// wide, elongated 
but shorter than the culm; spikelets narrowly ovoid, 
acute, 2’ long, few, in 1-4 loose clusters, the lower 
clusters borne on filiform stalks; scales ovate, brown, 
mucronate; bristles 6, upwardly barbed, equalling the 
achene and tubercle; achene broadly oval or nearly 
orbicular, dark brown, lenticular, dull, smooth; tu- 
bercle narrowly subulate, flat, widened at the base, 
pale, about as long as the achene. 
In pine barren swamps, New Jersey to Florida and 
Texas, near the coast. June-Aug. 
