216 Monogr(q)h of North American Rhynchospor^, 
R. fusca is said by Spreiigel, Roem. & Schult. &c. to have 
but three bristles ; there are six in all the specimens, both 
European and American, which I have examined. A spe- 
cimen from N. Carolina, collected by Mr. Curtis, appears to 
differ from this species only in its smaller spikelets, but it is 
too imperfect to be positively determined. 
27. Rhynchospora gracilenta. 
R. culmis foliisque gracillimis; corymbis minimis, subconfertis, 
terminali subsessili, lateralibus exserte pedunculatis ; nuce 
laevi, ovata (vel orbiculato-ovata), lenticulari, setis sursum 
hispidulis breviore ; tuberculo subulato, basi dilatato, nucem 
suba^quante. 
R. fusca. Gray, Gram. ^' Cyp. I. n. 9-3. (excl. syn.) 
Culm slender, sometimes almost capillary, 1 — 2 feet high, obscurely 
triangular. Leaves linear-setaceous, 4 — 12 inches in length. Fas- 
cicles 2 — 4, (often with a solitary terminal fascicle or snbeapitate co- 
rymb) lateral and terminal, small, few-flowered ; the uppermost sub- 
sessile, the lower ones exsertly and often filiformly pedunculate. 
Spikelets ovate. Glumes ovate, acute or mucronate, fuscous. Bristles 
6, about half as long again as the nut, minutely hispid upward. Sta- 
mens 3. Nut ovate or round ovate, smooth. Tubercle subulate, di- 
lated at the base, compressed. 
Hab. Pine barrens of New Jersey : Aug. — Sept. Philips- 
town, Putnam county. New York, Dr. Bar raft ; Salem, N. 
Carolina, Schweinitz. 
Obs. This plant is proposed as a new species with some he- 
sitation. It is possibly R. distans of Vahl, but is quite 
different from Schanus distans of Michaux. It does not dis- 
agree with the specific character of S. axillaris Lam^k. HI. 
Gen. I. p. 137 ; but the character of that species is so brief 
and general that it applies equally well to several other 
species. 
28. Rhynchospora distans, Nutt. 
R. corymbis fasciculatis, lateralibus subdistantibus ; spiculis 
