314 



CYPERACEAE 



77. Carex disperma Dewey. Soft-leaved Sedge. Fig. VoZ. 



Carex tenclla Schk. Riedgr. 1: 23. pi. pp., f. 104. 1801; not 



Thuill 1799. 

 Carc.i- disperma Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 8: 266. 1824. 

 Carcx blytii Nylander, Spic. Fl. Fenn. 2: 35. 1846. 



In large clumps, the rootstocks sending out long 

 slender stolens, the culms very weak 1.5-6 dm. high_, 

 rough above, exceeding leaves. Leaf-blades 1-1.5 

 mm. wide, flat, flaccid, deep green ; spikes distant or 

 the upper aggregated, in a terminal inflorescence 

 1.5-2.5 cm. long, each with 1-5 ascending perigynia 

 below and 1-2 staminate flowers above ; bracts 

 wanting or the lower slightly developed; scales 

 ovate triangular, shorter than perigynia, sharp- 

 pointed, hyaline with green midvein; perigynia 2 

 mm. long,' 1.5 mm. wide, ovoid-elliptic, flattened 

 suborbicular in cross-section, smooth, light green, 

 not margined, finely nerved, rounded and slightly 

 stipitate at base, rounded and abruptly beaked at 

 apex, the minute beak smooth, 0.25 mm. long, hyaline 

 at orifice; achenes lenticular; style slender, jointed 

 with achene; stigmas 2. 



Boggy woods. Transition to Hudsonian Zones; Newfound- 

 land to Alaska, south to New Jersey, Indiana, New Mexico, 

 and the Sierra Nevada of California, where rare. Type lo- 

 cality: Massachusetts. 



78. Carex canescens L. 



Silvery or Hoary Sedge. Fig. 754. 



Care.r canescens L. Sp. PI. 974. 1753. 



Carex curta Good. Trans. Linn. Sec. 2: 145. 1794. 



Carex lagopina W. Boott in S. Wats. Bot. Calif. 2: 233. 1880; not Wahl. 



Carex canescens dnbia Bailey, Bot. Gaz. 9: 119. 1884. 



Cespitose in large clumps, the culms erect, slender, 2.5-8 dm. 

 high, roughened immediately beneath head, mostly exceeding 

 the leaves. Leaf-blades glaucous, flat, 2^ mm. wide; spikes 

 4-9, the lower remote (sometimes but little so), 3-12 mm. long, 

 3-5 mm. wide, closely 10-30-flowered ; scales ovate, sharp-pointed, 

 shorter than perigynia, hyaline with green keel; perigynia ap- 

 pressed-ascending, 1.8-2.8 mm. long, 1-1.8 mm. wide, membrana- 

 ceous, pale green, white puncticulate, faintly few-nerved, rounded 

 short stipitate and spongy at base, minutely beaked, the beak 

 with margins minutely serrulate and orifice emarginate or en- 

 tire; achenes lenticular, closely enveloped; style slender, jointed 

 with achenes; stigmas 2. 



Swamps and bogs, Canadian Zone; Labrador to Alaska, south to Virginia 

 and the Sierra Nevada of California, where rare. Widely distributed in 

 Eurasia and recorded from South America and Australia. Type locality : 

 Europe. 



79. Carex brunnescens (Pers.) Poir. Brownish Sedge. Fig. 755. 



Carex canescens alpicola Wahl. Vet. Akad. Handl. Stockholm 



24: 147. 1803. 

 Carex curta brunnescens Pers. Syn. 2: 539. 1807. 

 Carex brunnescens Poir. Encycl. Suppl. 3: 286. 1813. 

 Carex vitilis Fries. Mant. 3: 137. 1842. 

 Carex sphaerostachva Dew. Am. Journ. Sci. 49: 44. pi. EE, f. 110. 



1845. 



Cespitose in large clumps, the culms slender, rough- 

 ish above 2-5 dm. high, roughened above, mostly ex- 

 ceeding the leaves. Leaf-blades rather dark green, 

 not glaucous, 1-2.5 mm. wide; spikes 4-8, the lower 

 remote, the upper approximate, gynaecandrous, sub- 

 globose or short oblong, 4-10 mm. long, 4-10-flowered ; 

 lowest bract usually developed; scales ovate, shorter 

 than the perigynia, thin, hyaline with green midvein and 

 lirownish tinged; perigynia ascending-spreading, 2 mm. 

 long, oval-ovate, membranaceous, plano-convex, green 

 at length brownish, glabrous, densely white puncticulate, 

 obsoletely nerved, rounded short-stipitate and spongy 

 at base, abruptly beaked, the beak serrulate, bidentate, 

 one-fourth length of body; achenes lenticular, closely 

 enveloped; style slender, jointed with the achene; stig- 

 mas 2. 



Wet places, banks and open woods, Arctic- Alpine Zone; Lab- 

 rador to Alaska, south in the mountains to North Carolina, Colo- 

 rado, and Oregon; widely distributed in northern Eurasia. Type 

 localitj': Europe. 



