CYPERACEAE. 



VOL. I 



Spikelets few-several in rather loose clusters. 

 Achene smooth. 



Leaves setaceous ; achene obovate, shining. 9> /^ fusca. 



Leaves narrowly linear. 



Achene broadly oval. I0 . R, grac u entam 



Achene narrowly obovate. TT j? c,,,,,//;,- 



A1 . 'Ill + * *\. *J t/lUt I tl, 



Achene transversely wrinkled. 



Spikelets ovoid, in erect cymose clusters ; achene longer than the bristles. 



Leaves flat; spikelets nearly or quite sessile. I2> R.'cymosa 



Leaves involute ; spikelets distinctly pedicelled. I3 ' t /?' Torreyana 



Spikelets spindle-shaped, in drooping panicles; bristles long. 14! R, inexpansa'. 



i. Rynchospora corniculata (Lam.) A. Gray. Horned Rush. Fig. 841. 



Schoenus corniculatus Lam. Tabl. Encycl. i: 137. 1791. 

 R. corniculata A. Gray, Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3 : 205. '1835. 

 Rhynchospora corniculata macroslachya Britton, Trans. N. 



Y. Acad. Sci. n : 84. 1892. 

 R. macrostachya Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3 : 206. 1835. 



Culm obtusely triangular, stout or slender, smooth, 

 3*-7* tall. Leaves flat, broadly linear, 6'-i8' long, 

 3"-8" wide, rough-margined ; umbels terminal and 

 axillary, sometimes i broad, usually compound; spike- 

 lets spindle-shaped, 4" -6" long in flower, capitate at 

 the ends of the rays and raylets ; primary rays slender, 

 sometimes 6' long; scales lanceolate, thin, acute, light 

 brown; bristles about 6, subulate or filiform, rigid, 

 upwardly scabrous, shorter or longer than the achene; 

 style subulate, entire or minutely 2-toothed at the apex, 

 2-4 times longer than the achene, upwardly scabrous, 

 i'-i' long, persistent and much exserted beyond the 

 scales when mature; achene obovate, flat, 2" long, dark 

 brown, smooth, its surface minutely cellular-reticulated. 



In swamps, Massachusetts to Florida, west to Ohio, Mis- 

 souri, Kansas and Texas. Consists of numerous races, 

 differing in length of bristles and inflorescence. July-Sept. 



2. Rynchospora pallida M. A. Curtis. Pale 

 Beaked-rush. Fig. 842. 



R. pallida M. A. Curtis, Am. Journ. Sci. (II.) 7 : 409. 1849. 



Rootstocks slender, culms sharply triangular, ii-2* 

 tall. Leaves \"-\" wide, flattish, nearly smooth, the 

 lowest reduced to many-nerved lanceolate acuminate 

 scales ; spikelets numerous, spindle-shaped, narrow, 

 2 ''-3" long, aggregated in a compound convex terminal 

 head, or occasionally also in a filiform-stalked cluster 

 from the upper axil; uppermost leaves subulate, little 

 exceeding the spikelets ; scales pale greenish-brown, 

 lanceolate, acuminate; bristles minute and early decidu- 

 ous, or wanting; style 2-cleft; achene lenticular, obo- 

 vate-oblong, smooth, brown, somewhat shining, 4" long, 

 tipped by a short tubercle. 



In bogs, New Jersey to North Carolina. Aug.-Sept. 



3. Rynchospora oligantha A. Gray. Few- 

 flowered Beaked-rush. Fig. 843. 



R. oligantha A. Gray, Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3 : 212. 1835. 



Rootstocks short, culms tufted, almost thread-like, 

 leafy only toward the base, 6'-i6' tall. Leaves filiform, 

 resembling and shorter than the culm or sometimes 

 equalling it ; spikelets 1-4, terminal, narrowly oblong, 

 acute, 3" -4" long, sessile or peduncled, subtended by 

 .1 or 2 filiform bracts; scales ovate, pale brown, acute, 

 cuspidate ; bristles usually 6, densely plumose below the 

 middle, upwardly scabrous above, equalling or shorter 

 than the achene; style 2-cleft; achene obovoid-oblong, 

 obtuse, turgid-lenticular, pale brown, dull, transversely 

 wrinkled ; tubercle with a flat depressed border and a 

 flattened conic acute central projection about one-fifth 

 as long as achene. 



In wet soil, New Jersey to Florida and Texas. June-Aug. 



