410 



CYPERACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



149. Carex debilis Michx. White-edged Sedge. 



Fig. 1016. 



Carex debilis Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2 : 172. 1803. 



C. debilis var. pitbera A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 593. 1867. 



C. debilis var. prolixa Bailey, Proc. Am. Acad. 22 : 105. 1886. 



^Culms slender, slightly rough above, lax or erect, 

 i-3 high. Leaves shorter than culm, light green, 

 i"-i3j" wide; lower bracts similar to the culm-leaves, 

 the sheaths _ glabrous; staminate spike more or less 

 stalked; pistillate spikes 2-4, narrowly linear, i'-z' long, 

 i'-2" wide, not approximate or but little so, weakly 

 erect or drooping on slender peduncles, rather loosely 

 S-2O-flow<ered ; perigynia lanceolate, sessile, glabrous or 

 puberulent, membranous, few-nerved, rather noticeably 

 inflated. 3-angled, 3"-4?" long, fc" wide, tapering into 

 a subulate hyaline-tipped bidentate beak nearly i"long; 

 scales ovate, obtuse, strongly white-hyaline-margined, 

 one-third to one-half length of perigynia; stigmas 3. 



Woods and copses, New Jersey to Tennessee, south to 

 Florida and Texas. Probably intergrades with the next. 

 May-June. 



150. Carex flexuosa Muhl. Slender-stalked Sedge. Fig. 1017. 



Carex tennis Rudge, Trans. Linn. Soc. 7 : 97. pi. 9. 1804. 



Not J. F. Gmel. 1791. 



Carex flc.ritosa Muhl. ; Willd. Sp. PL 4: 297. 1805. 

 C. debilis var. Ritdgei Bailey, Mem. Torr. Club i : 34. 1889. 



Culms slender, rough above, erect or lax, 4'-3 high. 

 Leaves usually shorter than the culm, light green, i"-2" 

 wide; lower bracts similar to the culm-leaves, the 

 sheaths glabrous ; staminate spike short-stalked, some- 

 times partly pistillate; pistillate spikes 2-4, narrowly 

 linear, t'-2z' long, \\"-2" thick, loosely or alternately 

 12-25-flowered, filiform-stalked and spreading or droop- 

 ing or sometimes erect : perigynia spindle-shaped, gla- 

 brous, membranous, few-nerved, from scarcely to 

 noticeably inflated, 3-angled, 2\"-$" long, less than i" 

 thick, tapering into a short, hyaline-tipped, 2-toothed 

 beak ; scales ovate or oblong, obtuse, acute or short- 

 cuspidate, scarious-margined, one-half as long as peri- 

 gynia or longer, usually rusty-tinged ; stigmas 3. 



In woods, Newfoundland to Wisconsin, , Virginia, the 

 mountains of North Carolina and Kentucky. Several slightly 

 differing varieties have been described. Hybridizes with C. Swanii. May-Aug. 



151. Carex arctata Boott. Drooping Wood 



Sedge. 



Fig. 1018. 



Carex arctata Boott; Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 227. 1840. 

 Carex arctata Faxoni Bailey, Bot. Gaz. 13: 87. 1888. 



Glabrous, culms slender, erect, i-2i high, roughish 

 above. Leaves flat, roughish-margined, much shorter 

 than the culm, the basal ones 2*"-5" wide ; staminate 

 spike solitary, short-stalked; pistillate spikes 2-5. 

 linear, i'-3' long, i*"-2" thick, loosely 15-45-flowered, 

 ^ erect, ascending, or filiform-stalked, and at length droop- 

 ing, the lower one usually remote ; perigynia lanceo- 

 late, strongly stipitate, deep green, rather strongly few- 

 nerved, narrowed at each end, \\"-2\" long, less than 

 i" thick, 3-angled, tapering into a short, hyaline-tipped, 

 2-toothed beak ; scales ovate, cuspidate or short-awned, 

 about one-third shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 3. 



In dry woods and thickets, Newfoundland and Quebec to 

 Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Michigan. May-June. 



Carex Knieskernii Dewey, is probably a hybrid with C. 

 castanea. C. arctata also hybridizes with C. Swanii. 



