302 



CYPERACEAE 



41. Carex athrostachya Olney 



Slender-beaked Sedge. 



Fig-. 



717. 



1868. 



Carex atlirostachva Olney, Proc. Am. -Acad. 7: 393. 

 Carex tennirostris Olney, Am. Nat. 8: 214. 1874. 



Carex macloviana pachystachxa f. involucrata Kiikenth. in Engler 

 Pflanzenreich 4-": 197. 19"09. 



Densely cespitose, the rootstock very short, the culms 

 1-9 dm. high, strict, slender, sharply triangular, smooth or 

 somewhat roughened above. Leaf-blades 1.5-2.5 mm. wide; 

 spikes 4-20, gynaecandrous, ovoid, 5 mm. long, 3-4 mm. 

 wide, densely aggregated into an ovoid head, 1-3 cm. long : 

 lowest 2-3 bracts elongated and much exceeding head, 

 dilated and strongly brownish hyaline margined at base, 

 spreading; scales ovate or lanceolate-ovate, shorter than 

 the perigynia, acute or short cuspidate, brownish with 

 hyaline margins ; perigynia ascending, ovate-lanceolate, 

 thin, 3-4 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, more or less nerved 

 ventrally, rounded and substipitate at base, wing margined, 

 serrulate above, tapering into a beak 1 mm. long, the tip 

 slender, terete, brownish, hyaline at apex, obliquely cut 

 dorsally ; achenes lenticular; style slender, jointed with the 

 achene ; stigmas 2. 



Meadows and copses. Arid Transition Zone; Saskatchewan and 

 Yukon south to Colorado and California, extending as far south 

 (along the Sierra Nevada) as the San Bernardino Mountains. Type 

 locality: Yosemite Valley, California. 



42. Carex unilateralis Mackenzie. 

 One-sided Sedge. Fig. 718. 



Carex athrostachya Kiikenth. in Engler Pflanzenreich 4-": 193. 1909; 



not Olney. 

 Carex unilateralis Mackenzie, Erythea 8: 43. 1922. 



Cespitose from very short creeping rootstocks, the culms 



erect, slender, obtusely triangular, slightly roughened above. 



Leaf-blades 2-4 mm. wide, fiat, little roughened; spikes 6-20, 



gynaecandrous, ovoid, 5 mm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, densely 



aggregated into an ovoid head, 1-3 cm. long; lowest 2-3 



bracts elongated and much exceeding head, dilated and 



strongly brownish hyaline margined at base, the lowermost 



erect appearing like a continuation of the culm, the head 



unilateral; scales ovate, strongly cuspidate, nearly equaling 



perigynia, reddish with lighter center and narrow hyaline 



margins ; perigynia appressed, ovate-lanceolate, thin, 3-4 mm. 



long, 1.5 min. wide, nerveless or nearly so ventrally, rounded 



and substipitate at base, wing margined, serrulate above, 



tapering into a short beak, the beak Hat, serrulate nearly to 



apex, reddish tipped, not hyaline, at length bidentate ; achenes 



lenticular; style slender, jointed with the achene; stigmas 2. 



Wet meadows and copses. Transition and Canadian Zones; north- 

 western California to British Columbia. Type locality. Alton, Hum- 

 boldt County, California. 



43. Carex feta Bailey. 

 Green-sheathed Sedge. Fig. 719. 



Carex straminca mixta Bailey, Proc. Am. Acad. 22: 151. 1886. 

 Carex fcta Bailey, Bull. Torrey Club 20: 417. 1893. 

 Carex feta iimlta Bailey, Bot. Gaz. 21: 8. 1896. 



Densely cespitose, the culms 5-12 dm. high, obtusely triangular, 

 smooth, the lower nodes exposed. Leaf-blades 2.5-4 mm. wide, 

 flat, the sheaths green striate ventrally and hyaline only at mouth ; 

 head 2-8 cm. long, the spikes 5-15, gynaecandrous, greenish, ag- 

 gregated or more or less separate, short oblong or suborbicular, 

 6-10 mm. long, 4-6 mm. wide, short clavate at base, rounded at 

 apex, the 20-40 perigynia appressed or spreading in age; bracts 

 inconspicuous ; scales ovate, shorter than perigynia, greenish straw 

 colored or light brownish tinged, obtusish or acutish; perigynia 

 ovate, plano-convex, thickish, greenish, 3-3.5 mm. long, 1.75-2 mm. 

 wide, nearly nerveless ventrally, rounded to a substipitate base, 

 narrowly margined, serrulate above, contracted into a flat, serrulate, 

 reddish tipped beak less than half length of_ body, obliquely cut 

 dorsally and minutely bidentate ; achenes lenticular ; style slender, 

 jointed to achene; stigmas 2. 



Wet meadows, Humid Transition Zone; British Columbia to southern Cali- 

 fornia; a characteristic species of the Pacific Coast States. Tyiie locality: 

 Cloverdale, Sonoma County, California. 



