Monograph of North American Rhynchosporic. 215 



26. Rhynchospora fusca, Rocm ^ Schult. 



R. foliis setaceis, canaliculato-carinatis ; spiculis ovato-oblon- 

 gis ; mice Isevi, obovata, subtumida, basi paulo attenuata, 

 setis sursum hispidulis duplo breviore ; tuberculo compresso, 

 margine serrulato-scabro. 



R. fusca, Rcem. ^ Schult. Syst. Veg. II. p. 81. Syrcng. Syst. 

 Veg. I. p. 194. 



R. alba var. fusca, Vahl. Enum. II. p. 236. 



Schcenus fuscus, Linn. Sp. PL p. 1664. Wahl. Fl. Succ. I. 

 p. 23. 



Culm 6 to 12 incbes high, very slender, smooth. Leaves setaceous, 

 channelled ; radical ones elongated ; cauline ones very short. Fascicles 

 1 — 3, few-flowered ; the uppermost approximate, on short included 

 peduncles ; the lowest remote, exsertly pedunculate. Spikelets ovate, 

 oblong, acute. Glumes mucronate, dark fuscous and shining. Bristles 

 6, very slender, hispid upward, about twice the length of the nut ; 

 three alternate ones somewhat shortest, or scarcely exceeding the nut. 

 Stamens 3. Nut smooth, but with its surface often slightly irregular, 

 obovate, sub-attenuate at the base, lenticular, somewhat tumid. Tm- 

 hercle much compressed, broad at the base, serrulate on the margin, 

 attenuate into the style, which is, sometimes almost wholly persistent. 



Hab. Pine barrens of New Jersey, Torrey ; Boston, Dr. 

 Pickering. 



Obs. Our plant agrees in every respect with a Swedish spe- 

 cimen of jR.y}<scrt, except that in the foreign plant, the nut is 

 somewhat uneven and a little more tumid than in ours. I 

 am, however, satisfied of their identity. This species is 

 quite distinct from R. alba, of which some European bota- 

 nists have considered it a variety. It is much more nearly 

 related to R. capillacea, from which it is well distinguished 

 by the form of the nut, the upward direction of the hispid- 

 ness of the bristles, and the serrulate tubercle. In this spe- 

 cies the glumes are dark fuscous ; in R. capillacea they are 

 light fuscous or chesnut coloured. R. fusca has carinate and 

 channelled leaves ; in R. capillacea they are nearly flat. 



Vol. III. 28 



