458 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



in an unfortunate endeavor to latinize one of Michaux's names, he had 

 substituted 6'. scirp'ina for C. scirjjoidea,, Michx., not C. scirpoides, 

 Schkuhr. This unfortunate citation of "C. scirpina" as a pure synonym 

 of Michaux's C. scirpoidea attaches to that name a decided element of 

 indefiniteuess. It is, therefore, wiser to take for the plant of Schkuhr 

 and of Willdenow the more clearly defined name, C. interior. 



One other plant of the Astrostachyae has been the source of much con- 

 fusion in the treatment of New England species of this group. Unlike 

 Carex eclmiata, 0. sterilis, and G. interior, the perigynia of this plant 

 are broadest at the middle, thence tapering to a narrow base. In aspect 

 the plant is strikingly like the largest form of C. canescens, but its thin- 

 edged strongly recurved perigynia place it clearly in the Astrostachyae. 

 The species is not uncommon from eastern Massachusetts to Delaware 

 and central New York, and in New England herbaria it has recently 

 jaassed variously as C. atlantica, C. interior, C. canescens, var. vulgaris, 

 C. sterilis, var. excelsior, &c. From notes left by the late William 

 Boott it is apparent that he recognized in some of Chas. Wright's 

 Connecticut material an undescribed form, but evidently he never 

 described the plant. A portion of the original material of the late 

 Dr. Eliot C. Howe's Carex seorsa, generously furnished the writer by 

 Professor C. H. Peck, agrees in every regard with the perplexing New 

 England plant, and under that name the species should now be known. 



The members of the Elo7igatae, as here interpreted, offer less difficulties 

 than the other species of the Hyparrhenae, and special discussion is 

 needed only of the forms which have been at various times associated 

 with Carex canescens. These plants present two marked forms in their 

 perigynia : in one plant, C. arcta, the perigynium is broadest at the 

 rounded or subcordate base ; while in C. canescens and C. hrunnescens 

 ( C. vitilis. Fries) the perigynium is nearly elliptic in outline, being 

 broadest near the middle. 



Carex arcta of Francis Boott was originally published by him as C. 

 canescens, var. polystacliya, but in his latest treatment of the plant he 

 considered it a distinct species. As stated, its perigynial character is 

 very constant. Furthermore, its rather limited strictly American range 

 and unique habit quickly separate it from most forms of C. canescens. C. 

 canescens, var. oregana, Bailey, said to differ from var. polystacliya in 

 having the " head larger and more dense . • . becoming brownish," 

 has identical perigynia with that plant, and the spikes (heads) are green 

 or brownish, as are those of the eastern plant, a character dependent on 

 age and exposure to light. 



