THE GENUS CAREX IN CALIFORNIA 



47 



50. C. amplectens Mackenzie. (Fig. 21). Cespitose, the culms stiff, 5-8 

 dm. high; leaf-blades 2.5-4 mm. wide; head 2.5-3.5 (or 5) cm. long, the 6-12 spikes 

 approximate or lower slightly separate, ovoid, or oblong-ovoid, 7-15 mm. long, 4-5 

 mm. wide, short-clavate and sparingly staminate at 

 base, the 8-15 perigynia closely appressed; scales ovate, 

 acute or short-cuspidate, greenish and slightly tawny 

 tinged, the midvein prominent; perigynia ovate, 3.5-4 

 mm. long, 1.75 mm. wide, light green, rounded at 

 base, narrowly margined and strongly serrulate, several 

 nerved on both faces, contracted into beak Yi length 

 of body or less. 



Type Locality: Lover's Leap, El Dorado Co., 

 California (Brainerd 209). 



Sierra Nevada from Shasta Co. to Tulare Co. 



Locs.: Yosemite, Bioletti, Jepson 4265a, 4388 (in part), 

 Dudley; Kaweah River, Tulare Co., Dudley 1446; Soda Creek, 

 Tulare Co., Dudley 1949; Lovers Leap, El Dorado Co., Brainerd 

 209; Big Tree Grove, Bolander 4978; Hat Creek, Shasta Co., 

 Eggleston 7493; Stanislaus Forest, Calaveras Co., Eggleston 9486. 



Ref.: Carex amplectens Mackenzie, Bull. Torr. Club 

 43: 611 (1917). 



51. C. Harfordii Mackenzie. Cespitose, the 

 culms 2.5-8 dm. high, erect, stiff, smooth; leaf blades 

 2.5-4.5 mm. wide; head 1.5-2.5 cm. long, globose to 

 oblong-ovoid, the 10-20 spikes closely aggregated, 

 ovoid, 6-10 mm. long, 4-6 mm. wide, the perigynia 10- 

 30, appressed-ascending or in age spreading; lower one 

 or more bracts conspicuous; scales ovate, acute, or 

 short-cuspidate, reddish-brown with light sharp mid- 

 vein and very narrow hyaline margins; perigynia 

 narrowly ovate, 3.5-4.25 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, 

 plano-convex, thick, finely nerved dorsally, several 

 nerved ventrally, round-tapering to a substipitate base, 

 narrowly margined (serrulate above) from base, taper- 

 ing into a beak 34 length of body. 



Type Locality: "California" (Kellogg & Har- 

 ford 1073). 



Coastal counties from Humboldt Bay to Monterey Co. Distinguished from 

 the other coastal species, Carex subbracteata and C. gracilior, by the sharper- 

 pointed scales with sharply defined midvein and by the tapering perigynia being 

 strongly nerved ventrally. 



Locs.: Fort Point, San Francisco, Bolander 1568a; Monterey, Brewer 697; South Cahill Ridge, 

 San Mateo Co., Dudley; Petaluma, Sonoma Co., Congdon 364; San Francisco, Congdon; Pacific Grove, 

 Monterey Co., Heller 6786; Kellogg & Harford 1073; Punta de Los Reyes, Bigelow, Vasey in 1875; 

 Humboldt Bay, Chandler 1115. 



Refs.: Carex Harfordii Mackenzie, Bull. Torr. Club 43: 615 (1917). C. festiva Dewey 

 var. stricta Bailey, Mem. Torr. Club 1: 51 (1889) at least in part, type from California. 



52. C. sub-bracteata Mackenzie. Cespitose, the rootstocks short creeping, 

 the culms 3.5-12 dm. high, robust, obtusely triangular, smooth; leaf-blades 2.5-4 

 mm. wide; head 1.5-2.5 cm. long, globose or ovoid, the spikes 5-10, closely aggregated, 

 ovoid, 6-10 mm. long, 4-6 mm. wide, the perigynia 10-20, appressed or in age appress- 

 ed-ascending; one or more lower bracts conspicuous; scales ovate, obtuse or acutish, 

 reddish-brown with lighter center and hyaline margins; perigynia narrowly ovate, 

 3.5-4.5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, thick plano-convex, few nerved dorsally, nerveless 

 or nearly so ventrally, round-tapering at base, narrowly margined (serrulate above) 

 from base, contracted into a beak J^ length of body. 



Fig. 21. Carex amplec- 

 tens Mackenzie. 

 a, inflorescence, X 1; b, scale, 

 X 9; c, perigynium, X 9. 



