37 s CYPERACEAE. VOL. I. 



53. Carex Leersii Willd. Little Prickly Sedge. Fig. 920. 



C. Letrsii Willd. Prodr. Fl. Berol. 28. 1787. 



C. stcllulata Good. Trans. Linn. Soc. 2: 144. 1794. 



C. echinata Murr. ; Bailey, Proc. Am. Acad. 22: 142. 1889. 



C. cephalantha Bicknell, Bull. Torr. Club 35 : 493. 1908. 



Culms slender to stoutish, stiff or in shade weak, erect 

 or rarely spreading, 4'~3 tall, rough, at least above. Leaves 

 i"-2" wide, shorter than the culm; bracts very short or 

 sometimes bristle- form ; spikes 2-8, subglobose or short- 

 oblong, closely contiguous to widely separated, about 2\" 

 thick, 3-40-flowered ; staminate flowers basal; perigynia 

 from lanceolate to broadly ovate, plano-convex, ascending 

 when young, i J"-2" long, |"-i" wide, spreading or reflexed 

 when old, several-nerved on both faces, the nerves usually 

 not conspicuous on inner face, thickened at base, tapering 

 into a sharp-edged 2-toothed rough beak more than one- 

 half as long as the body, the teeth and suture on inner side 

 conspicuous ; scales ovate, hyaline, acutish to acuminate, 

 shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 2. 



In moist soil throughout the continent north of Mexico ; often locally absent._ Also in Europe 

 and Asia. Presenting many forms. May-July. 



54. Carex incomperta Bicknell. Prickly 

 Bog Sedge. Fig. 921. 



C. sterilis Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 208 (in small part). 1805. 

 C. sterilis Willd. ; Schk. Reidgr. f. 146 (in part). 1806. 

 C. incomperta Bicknell, Bull. Torr. Club 35 : 494- 



1909. 



Strongly resembling C. atlantica, but more slen- 

 der, the culms acutely triangular and roughened 

 above, io'-24' tall. Leaves usually less than i" 

 wide, not stiff, flat or in drying involute, usually 

 exceeding the spikes, the lower less conspicuously 

 shortened; spikes 3-4, spreading, subglobose, 2i"-3" 

 in diameter, 6-2O-flowered, the staminate flowers 

 numerous at base of terminal one ; perigynia brown- 

 ish at maturity, with suborbicular body, plano- 

 convex, i*" long, about i" wide, sharp-margined, 

 rounded at base, rather lightly nerved on both faces, 

 spreading or reflexed at maturity, abruptly tipped 

 with a stout, rough, 2-toothed beak, not half as 

 long as the body; scales acute to short-acuminate; 

 stigmas 2. 



In boggy places, Massachusetts to Michigan, Pennsyl- 

 vania and Florida. May-July. 



55. Carex atlantica Bailey. Eastern Sedge. Fig. 922. 



Carex atlantica Bailey, Bull. Torr. Club 20 : 425. 1893. 

 C. sterilis Fernald, Proc. Am. Acad. 37: 484. 1902. 



Similar to C. Leersii but stouter, culms obtusely trian- 

 gular below, more sharply triangular and roughish 

 above, \-2\ tall. Leaves i"-2" wide, stiff, flat or in 

 drying somewhat involute, the upper sometimes over- 

 topping the spikes, the lower very short and acute ; 

 spikes 3-7, spreading, subglobose or short-cylindric, 

 nearly 3" in diameter, i5-5o-flowered, the staminate 

 flowers numerous at the base of the terminal one, or 

 this rarely entirely staminate ; perigynia green, with 

 suborbicular body, plano-convex, sharp-margined, ii"- 

 if" long, i"-ii" wide, rounded at the base, strongly 

 nerved on both faces, spreading or reflexed at ma- 

 turity, abruptly tipped with a stout, rough 2-toothed 

 beak less than half as long as the body, the margins 

 sometimes incurved ; scales acutish to acute, shorter 

 than the perigynia. 



In swamps, near the coast, Newfoundland to Florida and 

 Texas. Also very rarely inland in Quebec, Maine, New 

 York and Pennsylvania, according to Fernald. June-July. 



