long-attenuate, roughened on the margins, the ventrally hyahne sheaths concave 

 at the mouth, the ligule much wider than long; spikes usually 3, the lateral 

 pistillate, the terminal gynecandrous, closely aggregated or approximate, erect, 

 short-oblong to suborbicular, 3.5-8 mm. long, 2.75-4.5 mm. wide, the lower short- 

 peduncled, the upper sessile, closely 8- to 25-flowered, the perigynia ascending; 

 lowest bract usually shorter than the head, little or not at all sheathing, the 

 upper much shorter; scales small, 1.5-2.5 mm. long, persistent, purplish-black; 

 staminate scales ovate-lanceolate, rather acute, with lighter midrib and white- 

 hyaline margins; pistillate scales broadly ovate, somewhat acute to obtuse, the 

 midrib essentially obsolete, the margins white-hyaline, nearly as wide as but 

 much shorter than the perigynia; perigynia obovoid or oblong-obovoid, 2-2.5 (-3.5) 

 mm. long. 1.25 mm. wide, obtusely trigonous, slightly inflated, membranaceous, 

 yellowish-green to yellowish-brown, granular and conspicuously puncticulate, 

 glabrous, 2-ribbed, otherwise nerveless, occasionally somewhat serrulate, tapering 

 at the base, sessile, rounded and abruptly beaked above, the beak short (0.5 mm. 

 long) but prominent, minutely bidentate, dark-reddish-tinged, not ciliate at the 

 mouth; achenes trigonous with concave sides, obovoid, and 1.75 mm. long and 

 1 mm. wide, granular, yellowish-brown, substipitate, abruptly apiculate. / 



In moist or wet open or partially open habitats in the mts., especially along 

 drainage courses in spruce-fir forests, in N.M. (Taos Co.); Lab. to Alas., s. 

 to Que., n. Mich., N.M. and Wash, 



61. Carex serratodens W. Boott. 



Loosely cespitose from short rootstocks; culms 3-12 dm. high, slender, 

 aphyllopodic, strongly red-tinged at the base, the basal sheaths breaking and 

 becoming filamentose; sterile shoots phyllopodic, conspicuous; leaves 2 to 5 to 

 a culm, clustered toward the base, 1 .75-4 mm. wide, flat, pale-green, long- 

 attenuate, the ligule conspicuously red-dotted, as long as wide; terminal spike 

 staminate or gynecandrous, slightly peduncled or nearly sessile, linear, 1.5-3 cm. 

 long. 3-4.5 mm. wide; pistillate spikes 2 to 5, the lower 1 or 2 more or less 

 separate, the other closely approximate, erect, sessile or the lowest slightly 

 peduncled. oblong, 6-18 mm. long, 5-8 mm. wide, densely 20- to 40-flowered, 

 the ascending perigynia at length spreading or squarrose; lowest bract leaflike, 

 from shorter than to exceeding the culm, scarcely sheathing, the other bracts 

 much-reduced; scales ovate, acute to short-mucronate. somewhat narrower and 

 shorter than the perigynia, reddish-brown with lighter center; perigynia oblong- 

 ovate to ovate, trigonous, slightly flattened above, 3-5 mm. long, 1.5-2.5 mm. 

 wide, strongly many-nerved, light-green, reddish-dotted, puncticulate, rounded and 

 sessile at the base, rather abruptly tapering at the apex into a slender bidentate 

 hispidulous to serrulate beak 0.5-1 mm. long; achenes obtusely trigonous, obovoid, 

 about 2 mm. long and 1.5 mm. wide, short-stipitate and abruptly apiculate. 



Moist or wet meadows and rocky wettish places near streams and seepages, in 

 Ariz. (Gila Co.); s. Ore. and Calif.; Ariz. 



62. Carex Buxbaumii Wahl. 



Cespitose. rhizomatous; culms 2-10 dm. tall, slender but stiff, sharply angled, 

 rough above, red-tinged at the base; basal leaf sheaths breaking and becoming 

 conspicuously filamentose; leaf blades 1.5-4 mm. wide, light-green, more or less 

 glaucous, flat, channeled toward base, sharply keeled, long-attenuate; spikes 2 to 4, 

 erect. 1-4 cm. long, sessile or short-peduncled, the lateral ones pistillate, ovoid or 

 oblong-ovoid 5-20 mm. long. 6-10 mm. wide; bracts scalelike, the lowest one 

 not reaching the tip of the culm to extending slightly beyond it; scales ovate, 

 longer than the perigynia, long-acuminate or aristate. purplish-black or purplish- 

 brown with light midvein; perigynia oblong-obovoid, 3-4 mm. long, 1.5-2 mm. 



539 



