Rare in wet sandy forests, e. Tex. (Nacogdoches and Newton cos.), Feb. -Mar.; 

 Ga., Fla., Miss., La. and Tex. (the var. nigromarginata from Gulf States except 

 Tex., n. to N.E.). 



58. Carex physorhyncha Liebm. 



Tufted perennial, with scaly reddish brown rhizomes about 2 mm. thick; culms 

 15-30 cm. long, 0.3-0.6 mm. thick; lowest sheaths of flowering culms with blades, 

 those of sterile shoots bladeless; blades 2-3 mm. broad, shorter than the culms; 

 inflorescence interrupted-spiciform, 15-25 mm. long, 4-7 mm. thick, composed 

 of one terminal staminate spike and 2 to 3 subterminal sessile ascending-appressed 

 pistillate ones, the 2 lowest pistillate spikes only 3-10 mm. apart on the axis; 

 bracts of lowest spike setaceous to subfoliaceous, 5-44 mm. long, ascending, those 

 of the rest of the spikes smaller; scales nearly as long as the perigynia, 3-veined 

 medially, marginally hyaline; perigynia 6 to 12 per spike, ascending-appressed, 

 2.5-3 mm. long (the bodies narrowly obovoid, bluntly triangular, 1.8-2.3 mm. 

 long, about 1 mm. thick), basally strongly stipitate-narrowed and at the very base 

 discolored, with 2 prominent veins, minutely pubescent, membranous; beak 0.5- 

 0.7 mm. long, thin-membranous, shallowly bidentate; achene completely filling the 

 upper part of the perigynium, triangular, apiculate with convex sides, 1 .5 mm. 

 long, 1 mm. wide, jointed with the style which completely withers after anthesis. 



Rare in e. (Smith and Walker cos.), s.e. (Jeff"erson Co.) and n.-cen. (Dallas 

 Co.) Tex. and Okla. (Payne Co.), in wet sandy soil, Mar.-May; S.C., Ala., Miss., 

 La., Ark., Okla., Tex. and Hgo. 



59. Carex eburnea Boott. 



Perennial; rhizomes extensively creeping, scaly, about 1 mm. thick; culms in 

 small tufts at intervals along the rhizome, 20-35 cm. long, 0.2-0.3 mm. thick, 

 wiry, grayish-green; leaves involute-filiform, 15-20 cm. long, 0.2-0.3 mm. thick, 

 mostly shorter than the culms, grayish-green, basally clustered; inflorescence 

 essentially bractless except for a minute nearly bladeless hyaline sheath at the 

 node of the subterminal spikes, composed of a terminal erect staminate spike and 

 usually 2 subterminal erect peduncled (peduncles filiform, erect. 1-2 cm. long) 

 pistillate spikes about 8 mm. long and 2 mm. thick, the nodes of attachment of 

 spikes being separated by internodes 8-12 (upper ones) or 13-27 (lower ones) 

 mm. long; scales hyaline, very slightly shorter than their perigynia; perigynia 5 

 to 8 per spike, fusiform, 2.5-2.7 mm. long, the bodies narrowly obovoid-triangular 

 (the angles blunt, the sides flat), 2-2.1 mm. long, membranous or subhyalinc. 

 glabrous, with 2 prominent veins and a number of faint ones, apically narrowed; 

 beak 0.5-0.6 mm. long, not well-defined, thick basally, oblique and the orifice 

 oblique; achencs 1.6-1.8 mm. long, dark-brown, obovoid, rather sharply trigonous, 

 essentially filling the bodies of the perigynia. apiculate, jointed with the style 

 which wholly withers after anthesis. 



Rare in seepage areas of limestone clifl"s at alt. of 5,000-6.000 ft. in the 

 Trans-Pecos (Guadalupe Mts.). July; temp. N.A. s. to Va., Tenn.. Mo., Neb. and 

 in mts. to Tex. 



Our plants may be varictally distinct in that the perigynia and achenes average 

 slightly larger than in more northern plants. 



60. Carex media R. Br. 



Loosely cespitose from rather short slender rhi/omes; culms 2-8 dm. high, 

 slender, smooth or slightly scabrous above, not stilT, sharply triangular above. 

 much-exceeding the leaves, red-tinged at the base, the dried leaves of the pre- 

 ceding year conspicuous; leaves 7 to 15 to a culm, mostly aggregated toward the 

 base, thin, pale-grccn. flat or with slightly revolute margins. 2-3 mm. wide, 



538 



