72 CYPERACEAE. 



terminal straw-colored spike, the upper and larger portion of which is stami- 

 nate; pistillate flowers several, usually but one maturing; perigynium smooth, 

 oblong, with a very short entire beak, 1 -nerved on each side; scales pale or 

 rusty, elongated, acuminate, exceeding the perigynia. 

 In dry pine woods. 



Carexleptalea Wahlenb. Tufted, glabrous; stems very slender, erect, 15-50 

 cm. high; leaves filiform, mostly shorter than the stems; spike solitary, linear, 

 green, 5-15 mm. long; perigynia ellipsoid, contracted at base, many-nerved, 

 smooth, beakless and obtuse; scales pale, ovate, cuspidate, about as long as 

 the perigynia. 



In bogs, not common. 



Carex hepburni Boott. Densely tufted; stems filiform, erect, 5-20 cm. 

 tall; leaves numerous, rigid, filiform, erect, mostly longer than the stems, 

 their brownish sheaths persistent; spike solitary, 6-15 mm. long, 5 mm. thick, 

 brown; perigynium 4 mm. long, lanceolate, pale, narrowed into a short serru- 

 late bidentate beak; scales brown, obtuse, as long as the perigynia; stigmas 2 

 or 3. 



In the mountains at about 2500 m. altitude. Very closely related to the 

 European C. nardina Fries. 



Carex circinata C. A. Mey. Tufted, glabrous; stems 5-20 cm. high, 

 usually curved; leaves filiform, firm, mostly curved, about as long as the 

 stem; spike solitary, erect, 13 cm. long; perigynium linear-oblong, faintly 

 nerved, gradually attenuate into a 2-lipped scabrous-margined beak; scales 

 linear, obtuse, purple except the white midrib; stigmas 2 or 3. 



Olympic Mountains, 2000 m. altitude, Elmer; otherwise known only 

 in Alaska. 



Carex tenella Schkuhr. Loosely tufted; stems very slender, 20-50 cm. 

 high; leaves flat, soft, 1-2 mm. wide, shorter than the stem; spikes small, 

 1-6-flowered; bracts minute or wanting; perigynia ovoid, plump, many-nerved, 

 smooth, the short beak entire; scales hyaline, ovate, acute, shorter than the 

 perigynia. 



In bogs, not common. 



Carex stipata Muhl. Stems 50-100 cm. tall, sharp-angled; leaves flat, 6-8 

 mm. wide, shorter than the stem; sheaths somewhat rugulose on the inner 

 side; inflorescence a dense ovoid head of many crowded spikes, 3-5 cm. long, 

 straw-colored or olivaceous, commonly exceeded by the slender lowest bract; 

 perigynia spongy at base, spreading, triangular-ovoid, many-nerved, each 

 tapering into a stout 2-toothed serrulate beak, longer than the body; scales 

 ovate, acuminate, much shorter than the perigynia. 



Common in wet places in the woods. 



Carex cusickii Mackenzie. ( C. teretiuscula ampla Bailey.) Densely 

 tufted, the slender stems 90-120 cm. high; leaves narrow, 2-4 mm. broad, most- 

 ly shorter than the stems; spikes 6-20, brown, in elongated often nodding 

 usually branched inflorescences, 5-12 cm. long; terminal florets staminate; 

 perigynia spreading, ovoid, stipitate, nerved at the base on both sides, 3 mm. 

 long, the serrulate beak as long as the thick body; scales brown, ovate, 

 cuspidate, as long as the perigynia. 



In wet places, common. 



Carex macrocephala \Villd. (C. anthericoides Presl.) Dioecious; root- 

 stocks extensively creeping, covered with the fibers of the old sheaths; stems 

 stout, 3-angled, 1530 cm. high; leaves firm, 310 mm. wide, mostly shorter 

 than the stems; bracts shorter than the head; heads dense, brown, ovoid, 

 erect, 5-7 cm. long; perigynia spreading, lanceolate, brown, strongly nerved, 

 margined, irregularly serrulate, 12 mm. long, the deeply bidentate beak as 



