584 CYPERACE^E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



12. LIPOCARPHA, R. Br. (PI. 2.) 



Spikelets terete, many-flo\vered, in a terminal close cluster iuvolucrate by 

 leafy bracts. Scales spatulate, regularly imbricated all round in many ranks, 

 awuless, deciduous, a few of the lowest empty. Inner scales (bracelets) 2 to 

 each flower, thin, one between the scale of the spikelet and the flower, one be- 

 tween the latter and the axis of the spikelet. Bristles or other perianth none. 

 Stamens 1 or 2. Style 2-3-cleft. Achene flattish or triangular, naked at the 

 tip. Culms leafy at base. (Name formed of Anros, fat, and Kaprpos, diuj}\ 

 from the thickness of the inner scales of some species.) 



1. L. maculata, Torr. Annual; culm (4-8' high) much longer than 

 the linear concave leaves; spikelets (1 -2" long) green and dark-spotted; in- 

 ner scales delicate; stamen one; acheue oblong with a contracted base. 

 Springy or miry places, Va. to Fla. ; near Philadelphia, probably adventive. 



13. RHYNCHOSPORA, Vahl. BEAK-RUSH. (PI. 4.) 



Spikelets panicled or variously clustered, ovate, globular, or spindle-shaped, 

 terete, or sometimes flattish ; but the scales open or barely concave (not boat- 

 shaped nor keeled); the lower commonly loosely imbricated and empty, the 

 uppermost often subtending imperfect flowers. Perianth in the form of bristles 

 (mostly *")). Stamens mostly 3. Acheue lenticular, globular, or flat, crowned 

 with a conspicuous tubercle or beak consisting of the persistent indurated base 

 or even of the greater part of the style. Chiefly perennials, with more or less 

 triangular and leafy culms; the spikelets in terminal and axillary clusters; 

 flowering in summer. (Name composed of pvyx *, a snout, and airopd, a seed, 

 from the beaked acheue.) 



1. RHYNCHOSPORA proper. Spikelets terete or biconvex, few many- 

 floivered ; style conspicuously 2-cleft, its base only forming the tubercle of the 

 mostly lenticular achene ; bristles usually present, merely, rough or barbed- 

 denticulate (nut plumose). 



* Achene transversely wrinkled ; bristles mostly 6, upwardly denticulate. 



1. R. cymosa, Nutt. Culm triangular; leaves linear ({'wide); cymes 

 corymbose, the spikelets crowded and clustered ; achene round-obovate , twice 

 the length of the bristles, four times the length of the depressed-conical tuber- 

 cle. Low grounds, Penn. and X. J. to Fla., west to N. Ind. and 111. 



2. R. Torreyana, Gray. (PI. 4, tigs. 1-5.) C 'u/m nearly terete, slender ; 

 leaves bristle-form ; cymes panicled, somewhat loose, the spikelets mostly pedi- 

 celled ; achene oblonrj-obovate, longer than the bristles, thrice the length of the 

 broad compressed-conical tubercle. Swamps ; pine-barrens of N. J. to S. C. 



3. R. inexpansa, Vahl. Culm triangular, slender; leaves narrowly //. 

 ear; spikelets spindle-shaped, mostly pedicclled, in drooping panicles; achene 

 oniony, half the length of the slender bristles, twice the length of the triangular- 

 subulate tubercle. Low grounds, Va. to Ga. 



* * Achene smooth and even. 

 -t- Bristles 6, long and conspicuous, upwardly denticulate. 



4. R. flisca, Roem. & Schultes. Culm 6-12' high; leaves bristle-fur^ 

 channelled; spike-lets ovate-oblong, few, clustered iu 1-3 loose heads (dark 



