34 6 CYPERACEAE. Vol. I. 



13. Rynchospora Torreyana A. Gray. Torrey's Beaked-rush. Fig. 853. 



Rhynchospora Torreyana A. Gray, Ann. Lye. N. 

 Y. 3: 197. 1835. 



Culms terete or obscurely 3-angled, smooth, 

 slender, ii°-3° tall. Leaves involute, the lower 

 ii"-a" wide at the base and elongated, the 

 upper bristle-like, distant; spikelets ovoid, ij" 

 long, peduncled, numerous, in 1-4 loose dis- 

 tant clusters; scales brown, ovate, mucronate; 

 bristles 6, upwardly barbed, shorter than the 

 oblong-obovate transversely wrinkled lenticu- 

 lar achene; style 2-cleft; tubercle flat, conic, 

 one-fourth to one-third as long as the achene. 



In wet pine barrens, New Hampshire and Mas- 

 sachusetts to South Carolina and Georgia. July- 

 Aug. 



14. Rynchospora inexpansa (Michx.) 

 Vahl. Nodding Beaked-rush. .Fig. 854. 



Schoenus inexpansus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 35. 

 1803. 



R. inexpansa Vahl, Enum. 2 : 232. 1806. 



Rootstocks slender, culms tufted, smooth, 

 slender, 3-angled, 2°-3° tall. Leaves smooth, 

 li" wide or less, flat, the lower elongated, the 

 upper bristle-like, remote ; spikelets spindle- 

 shaped, acute at both ends, about 3" long, 

 numerous, in 1-4 narrow finally drooping pan- 

 icles; scales brown, lanceolate, acuminate; 

 bristles 6, upwardly hispid, very slender, about 

 twice as long as the achene ; achene narrowly 

 oblong, transversely wrinkled ; style 2-cleft ; 

 tubercle flat, triangular-subulate, one-half as 

 long as the achene 



Moist soil, Virginia to Louisiana. June-Aug. 



14. PSILOCARYA Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3 : 359. 1836. 



Annual sedges, with fibrous roots, slender leafy stems and ovoid or oblong, many-flowered 

 terete spikelets in terminal and axillary, mostly compound umbels, the rays and raylets bracted 

 at the base. Scales of the spikelets spirally imbricated all around, membranous, deciduous. 

 Flowers perfect. Perianth none. Stamens 1 or 2. Style 2-cleft, enlarged at the base. Achene 

 lenticular or biconvex, smooth or transversely wrinkled, capped by the persistent base of the 

 style (tubercle), or nearly the whole style persistent as a beak. [Greek, referring to the 

 absence of perianth-bristles.] 



About 10 species, natives of temperate and tropical America. Besides the following, another 

 occurs in the southeastern United States. Type species : Psilocarya scirpoides Torr. 



Achene strongly wrinkled, much longer than the subacute tubercle. 

 Achene smooth or but little wrinkled ; tubercle subulate. 



1 . P. nitens. 



2. P. scirpoides. 



