GENUS 12. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



343 



4. Rynchospora alba (L.) Vahl. White Beaked-rush. Fig. 844. 



Schoenus albus L. Sp. PI. 44. I7S3- 

 Rynchospora alba Vahl, Enum. 2: 236. 1806. 

 Rynchospora alba macro Clarke ; Britton, Trans. N. Y. 

 Acad. Sci. n : 88. 1892. 



Pale green, rootstocks short, culms slender or 

 almost filiform, glabrous, 6'-2o' tall. Leaves bristle- 

 like, i"-i" \\ide, shorter than the culm, the lower very 

 short ; spikelets several or numerous, in 1-4 dense 

 corymbose terminal and axillary clusters, narrowly 

 oblong, acute at both ends, 2"-$" long; scales ovate or 

 ovate-lanceolate, white, acute; bristles 9-15, down- 

 wardly barbed, slender, about as long as the achene 

 and tubercle; style 2-cleft; achene obovate-oblong, 

 smooth, pale brown, lenticular; tubercle triangular- 

 subulate, flat, one-half as long as the achene. 



In bogs, Newfoundland to Alaska, south to Florida, Ken- 

 tucky. Minnesota, Idaho and California. Also in northern 

 Europe and Asia. June-Aug. 



5. Rynchospora capillacea Torr. Capillary Beaked-rush. Fig. 845. 



Rh\nchospora capillacea Torr. Comp. 41. 1826. 

 Rynchospora capillacea laeviseta E. J. Hill, Am. Nat. 10: 

 370. 1876. 



Culms filiform, tufted, glabrous, 6'-2o' tall. Leaves 

 filiform, less than i" wide, much shorter than the 

 culm, the lower very short; spikelets few, in 1-3 

 terminal and axillary loose clusters, oblong, acute 

 at both ends, 2"-3" long; scales ovate-oblong, 

 chestnut-brown, keeled, mucronate; bristles 6, or 

 sometimes 12, slender, downwardly barbed, or some- 

 times smooth, about equalling or becoming longer 

 than the achene and tubercle; achene narrowly ob- 

 long, short-stalked, light brown, minutely wrinkled, 

 lenticular ; style 2-cleft ; tubercle compressed, tri- 

 angular-subulate, dark brown, about one-half as long 

 as the achene. 



In bogs, New Brunswick to Ontario, Minnesota, New 

 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Missouri. July-Aug. 



6. Rynchospora Knieskernii Carey. Knies- 

 kern's Beaked-rush. Fig. 846. 



R. Knieskernii Carey, Am. Journ. Sci. (II.) 4: 25. 1847. 



Culms slender, tufted, smooth, 8'-i8' tall. Leaves 

 narrowly linear, flat, about i" wide, much shorter than 

 the culm ; spikelets numerous, in several distant com- 

 pact clusters, oblong, acute, about i" long; scales 

 chestnut-brown, ovate; bristles 6, downwardly barbed, 

 equalling the achene ; achene obovate, lenticular, brown, 

 minutely wrinkled; style 2-cleft; tubercle triangular- 

 subulate, pale, one-half as long as the achene or less 

 and slightly decurrent on its edges. 



Pine barrens, New Jersey to Virginia. July-Aug. 



