198 CYPEKACEAE 



39. Rynchospora prolifera Small. Perennial, bright green. Stems tufted, slender, 

 4-10 dm. tall, weak, smooth : leaf -blades elongated, 2-5 mm. wide, pale green : spike- 

 lets numerous, in open corymbs, on filiform peduncles, flat, oblong-ovoid, 6-8 mm. long, 

 acute, 5-10-flowered : scales very thin, spreading, early deciduous : perianth-bristles 6, 

 fully as long as the achene and tubercle : achenes lenticular, obovoid to suborbicular, 

 slightly transversely wrinkled, reddish brown, fully 1-1.5 mm. long, persistent on the 

 finally naked rachis ; tubercle conic, setose. 



In pine woods and sandy places, North Carolina to Florida and Mississippi. Summer. 



40. Rynchospora punctata Ell. Perennial, pale green. Stems tufted, 3-7 dm. tall, 

 3-angled, slender : leaves several at the base of the stem ; blades 2-4 mm. wide, slightly 

 channeled, rough-margined : spikelets in several small clusters near the top of the stem, 

 3-4 mm. long, acute : perianth-bristles 6, longer than the achene and tubercle : achenes 

 lenticular, obovoid, barely 2 mm. long, prominently transversely wrinkled, surpassed by 

 the bristles ; tubercle triangular, smooth. 



In pine lands, South Carolina and Georgia. Spring to fall. 



41. Rynchospora microcarpa Baldw. Perennial, bright green. Stems tufted, 

 5-10 dm. tall, smooth : leaves mostly at the base of the stem ; blades channeled, 1.5-4 mm. 

 wide, attenuate : spikelets ovoid, 2-3 mm. long, numerous in 4-6 compound corymbs : 

 perianth-bristles 5 or 6, not longer than the achene or but little longer : achenes lenticular, 

 broadly or orbicular-obovoid, barely 1 mm. long, strongly transversely wrinkled, about as 

 long as the bristles or surpassing them ; tubercle bluntish, rather depressed. 



On pond margins in pine lands, North Carolina to Florida and Texas. Also in the Bahamas. 

 Spring to fall. 



42. Rynchospora decurrens Chapm. Perennial, pale green. Stems often loosely 

 tufted, 6-12 dm. tall, arching above : leaves mostly numerous at the base of the stem ; 

 blades conspicuously elongated, lax, 2-4 mm. broad, glaucescent, smooth : spikelets ovoid, 

 2-2. 5 mm. long, filif orm-peduncled, in 5-6 remote spreading or drooping lax corymbs : 

 perianth-bristles 6 : achenes lenticular, narrowly obovoid or cuneate-obovoid, about 1 mm. 

 long, transversely wrinkled, as long as the bristles or longer, each with the triangular 

 sharp-pointed tubercle decurrent some distance on its sides. 



On muddy banks, western Florida. Summer. 



43. Rynchospora schoenoides (Ell.) Britton. Perennial, bright green. Stems 

 loosely tufted, 3-angled, 6-12 dm. tall : leaves elongated, sometimes numerous at the base of 

 the stem ; blades smooth, or roughish on the margins: spikelets ovoid, 2.5-3 mm. long, 

 numerous, in 3-5 compound more or less lax corymbs : perianth-bristles 6, as long as the 

 achene and tubercle or longer : achenes lenticular, oval, strongly transversely wrinkled, 

 fully 1 mm. long ; tubercle smooth. 



About pine-land pools, North Carolina to Florida and Louisiana. Spring to fall. 



44. Rynchospora miliacea (Lam.) A. Gray. Perennial, light green. Stems loosely 

 tufted, 3-angled, 6-15 dm. tall: leaves often numerous at the base of the stem; blades 

 elongated, 3-8 mm. long, smooth : spikelets numerous, ovoid, 2.5-3 mm. long, peduncled, 

 in 6-8 open spreading corymbs : scales deciduous : perianth-bristles 6 : achenes 2-4 in each 

 spikelet, lenticular, obovoid or oval, fully 1 mm. or rarely nearly 1.5 mm. long, pale, trans- 

 versely wrinkled, about as long as the bristles, persistent ; tubercle smooth, depressed- 

 conic. 



In bogs and miry localities, Florida to Louisiana, and in the West Indies. Spring to fall. 



45. Rynchospora stipitata Chapm. Perennial, bright green. Stems tufted, 8-10 dm. 

 tall, arching above, 3-angled : leaves numerous at the base of the stem ; blades conspic- 

 uously elongated, 4-10 mm. wide, smooth : spikelets 7-8 mm. long, narrowly ovoid, 

 numerous, in 4-5 compound drooping corymbs : perianth -bristles 6, upwardly barbed : 

 achenes lenticular, 1-3 in a spikelet, orbicular-obovoid, stalked, the body about 1.5 mm. 

 long, finely transversely wrinkled, less than ^ as long as the bristles ; tubercle depressed, 

 setose. 



In river swamps, Florida. Spring to fall. 



46. Rynchospora stenophylla Chapm. Perennial, bright green. Stems tufted, 2-4 

 dm. tall, wiry-filiform : leaves resembling the stems but more slender, smooth : spikelets 

 lanceolate in outline, 4-5 mm. long, acute, relatively few, (5-7), in 1-3 lax, erect 

 corymbs : perianth-bristles 6 : achenes lenticular, obovoid or obovoid-oblong, trans- 

 versely wrinkled, 1.5 mm. long excluding the conic smooth tubercle whose summit the 

 perianth-bristles barely equal. 



In grassy pine lands, Florida and Alabama. Spring to fall, 



47. Rynchospora inexpansa (Michx. ) Vahl. Rootstocks slender. Stems slender, 

 3-angled, 5-9 dm. tall : leaves smooth ; blades 2 mm. wide or less, flat, the lower elon- 



