76 CYPERACEAE. 



In wet meadows. Very similar to C.filiformis but stouter and with broader 

 leaves. 



Carex filiformis L. Stems slender, erect, 60-90 cm. high, smooth, usually 

 reddish at base; leaves involute, very narrow, scabrous on the margins, shorter 

 than the stems; staminate spikes 1-3; pistillate 1-3, erect, sessile or short- 

 peduncled, 1-5 cm. long; perigynia ovoid, densely short-pubescent, each with 

 a short biclentate beak; scales ovate, thin, obtuse to acute, nearly as long as 

 the perigynia. 



In shallow water or wet meadows. 



Carex brevicaulis Mackenzie. Loosely tufted, glabrous; stems 5-10 cm. 

 high, rough-angled; leaves 2-3 mm. wide, flat, longer than the stems; bracts 

 auricled and colored at base; spikes 3-5, the terminal one staminate; the lower 

 pistillate spike long-peduncled, the upper one or two sessile; perigynia pubes- 

 cent, stipitate, globose, each abruptly contracted into a slender serrulate bi- 

 dentate beak; scales ovate, acute or cuspidate, reddish brown, narrower and 

 shorter than the perigynia. 



In dry ground, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to California; rare. 



Carex rossii Boott. Densely tufted, the stems 20^0 cm. tall; leaves pale, 

 flat, scabrous, 1-3 mm. wide, commonly equalling the stems; bracts not 

 auricled at base; inflorescence of 1-4 spikes, the uppermost staminate; stamin- 

 ate spike slender, 3-8 mm. long, pale, nearly sessile; pistillate spikes 1-3, 

 distinct, loosely few-flowered; perigynia obovoid, pubescent, each with a 

 2-toothed beak; scales purple with hyaline margins, or greenish, sharply 

 acuminate, shorter and broader than the perigynia. 



In stony soil, especially in the mountains. 



Carex vespertina (Bailey) Howell. Rootstocks stout; stems erect, 20-50 

 cm. high, rough-angled; leaves pale, 2-3 mm. wide, firm, shorter than the stem; 

 spikes 2-4, the uppermost staminate, linear, 2-3 cm. long, the others much 

 smaller, sessile and separated; lower bract leaf-like, 1-3 cm. long; perigynia 

 pale, obovoid, pubescent, the stout beaks deeply bidentate. 



In rocky soil, Vancouver Island to Oregon; rather rare. 



Carex verecunda Holm. (C. inops Bailey.) Rootstocks slender; stems 

 erect, rough-angled, about 30 cm. high; leaves narrow, rigid, much shorter 

 than the stems; spikes 3 or 4, sessile near the top of the stem, the terminal 

 staminate, the others shorter and staminate at the top; perigynia pubescent 

 above, ellipsoid, each abruptly narrowed into the slender deeply bidentate 

 beak; scales brown with scarious margins, acute, about as long as the peri- 

 gynia. 



Known only from Mount Hood, Oregon, where it was first collected by 

 Henderson. 



Carex comosa Boott. Tufted, the stem stout, 50-150 cm. high, rough and 

 sharply angled; leaves broad, 6-15 mm. wide, scabrous on the margins; spikes 

 4-6, drooping on slender peduncles, the uppermost staminate, linear, brown- 

 ish, 3-9 cm. long, often partly pistillate; pistillate spikes pale green, cylindric, 

 about 1.5 cm. thick, densely flowered, often partly staminate; perigynia spread- 

 ing, firm, lance-ovate, strongly many-nerved, each attenuate into a long 

 2-toothed beak, the teeth 12 mm. long and spreading; scales brownish, awned, 

 about as long as the perigynia. 



Usually in shallow water. 



Carex exsiccata Bailey. Glabrous; stems 60-100 cm. high, rough-angled; 

 leaves flat, 2-5 mm. broad, about as long as the stems; sheaths fibrillose; 

 upper 3-4 spikes staminate; lower 2-4 spikes pistillate, nearly sessile, cylindric, 

 2-5 cm. long; perigynia straw-colored or brownish, slightly inflated, strongly 



