568 CYPEKACK^. (SKDGK FAMILY.) 



§ 1. PSILOCARYA, Torr. S/nles ovate, lerrle, the 7iwi,erons scales all alike 

 and regularly imhricuted; a perfect Jlower under each : stumcns mostly 2: style 

 2-cleJl ; its Ixise or the ynater jxirt of it entargin;/ and luirdetiin;/ to form the liealc 

 of the lenticular or tumid more or less cross-unnkl(d aclienium: bristles wholly 

 wanting (wlicnce the name). 



1. R. SCirpoldes. Annual, 4' -10' high; leaves flat; spikes in broad 

 and open cvnios, 20- 30-flowcrcd ; seales ohlong-ovate, acute, chestnut-colored; 

 aclienium obscurely wrinkled, beaked with the sword-shaped almost wholly per- 

 sistent style, and somewhat margined. (Psilocarya scirpoides, Torr. & Ed. 2.) 

 — Inundated places, Khode Island and Plymouth, Massachusetts. 



(R. NiTENS (Scirpus nitons, Vahl. Psilocarya rhynchosporo'ides, 7o/T.),like 

 this, but with a more wrinkled and short-beaked aclienium, takes its place in 

 Southern States.) 



§2. EUHHYNCHOSPORA. Spikes terete or biconvex, few- many-fliHcered; 

 some of the lower scales almost always empty : stamens mostly 3 : style conspicu- 

 ously 2-clefl, its base only forming tlw. tubercle or Ixak of the mostly lenticular 

 aclienium : bristles of the perianth usually present, and merely rough or barbed- 

 denticulate {not plumose). 

 * Achenium transversely wrinkled: bristles mostly 6, upwardly denticulate. 



2. R. eym6sa, Nutt. Culm triangular; leaves linear (^' wide) ; cymes 

 corymbose; the spdces crowded and clustered; achenium round-obovate, twice the 

 length ot the bristles, four times the length of the depressed-conical tubercle. — 

 Low grounds, Penn and New Jer-sey to Virginia, and southward. 



3. E.. Torreyaaa, Gray. Culm nearly terete, slender : leaves bristleform ; 

 cymes paniclcd, somewhat loose, the spikes mostly pedicellfd ; achenium oblong- 

 oborale, longer than the bristles, thrice the length of the broad compressed- 

 conical tubercle. — Swamps; pine barrens of New Jersey, and southward. 



4. R. inexpansa, Vahl. Culm triangular, slexuhr ; leaves narroioly linear ; 

 spikes spind.'e-shii/ied, mosflif pedicelled, in drooping panicles ; achenium d)long, half 

 the length of the slender bristles, twice the length of the triangular-subulate 

 tubercle. — Low grounds, Virginia and southward. 



* * Achenium smooth and even. 

 -1- Bristles of the perianth 6, long and conspicuous, upwardly denticulate. 



5. R. flisca, RoMn. & Schultes. Leaves bristleform, channelled; spikes 

 ovate-olilong, few, clustered in 1 -3 loose heads (dark chestnut-color) ; achenium 

 oliovate, half the length of the bristles, equalling the triangular-sword-shaped acute 

 tubercle, which is roiigh-sernilate on the i^argins. — Low grounds, New Jersey 

 to Maine and Lake Superior: rare. — Culm 6'- 12' high. (En.) 



6. R. gracilenta, Gray. Leaves narrowly linear : spikes ovoid, in 2 - 4 

 email clusters, the lateral long-pcd uncled ; achenium ovoid, rather shorter than the 

 bristles, about the length of the flat awl-shaped tubercle. — Low grounds, S. 

 New York, New Jersey, and southward. — Culm very slender, l°-2° high. 



•*- -I- Bristles none or 1—3 and minute : spikes pale, \-flow red. 



7. R. pallida, M. A. Curtis. Culm (l°-2° high) acutely triangular; 

 leaves and spikes as in the next species, but only a terminal dense cluster, 

 which is less white or turns pale reddish-tawny ; achenium obovatc-lenticular, 



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