EEPOET OF THE STATE BOTANIST. 43 



Var. minor Boott. A much reduced form, 6-10' high, the 

 spikelets 2"-4:" long and darker than in the tj'po. It often grows 

 in drier places. Apparently an off-shoot of this is forma elatior 

 Peck, ill JUL which is taller, the spikes da/ker, and the perigynia 

 more spreading, a not unusual condition in the Adirondack speci- 

 mens. A noticeable feature is the filiform bract, which subtends 

 the lowest spikelet. 



25. Carex albolutescens Schw. 



Stems l^°-2° high, erect or slender and recurved at the sum- 

 mit; le-rves T'-l^" wide, rough-margined, mostly shorter than 

 the culm ; -ipike f'-lj' in length, erect or subflexuous and droop- 

 ing, light yellowish-green; spikelets 3-8, approximate, ovoid, 

 obtuse or subacute, the terminal one conspicuously staminate 

 and contracted at the base ; the scales acute or cuspidate ; bracts 

 scale-like or bristle-shaped, that of the lowest spikelet -J'-l J' long; 

 perigynia broadly ovate, nerved on both sides, thin, erect, Avith 

 a slightly rough-margined bifid beak, a little longer than the 

 ovate pointed or cuspidate scale; achenium oval, short-stipitate. 



The spikelets are sometimes globose and green rather than pale 

 yellowish-green, but the species is well marked by its erect 

 perigynia, shar|)ly pointed scales and bristle-shaped bracts. — 

 (C. straminea var. foenea Torr. Gray's Man., 6th ed.) 



Suffolk county. July. 



Yar. cumulata Bailey. Stems taller and leaves shorter; spike- 

 lets 5-30, aggregated, abruptly contracted at base, spreading; 

 perigj'^nia obscurely nerved, appressed, otherwise as in the type. 



Suffolk county. July. 



26 Carex foenea Wdld. 

 Stems 15-30' high, slender, erect or recurved-spreading, 

 smooth; leaves light green, l"-lf" wide, smooth, shorter than 

 the culm, spike f '-1^' in length, recurved or flexuous, silvery or 

 whitish green ; spikelets 5-8, the upper 2 or 3 contiguous, the 

 others more or less separate, globose or obovate, contracted at 

 the base into a short or long slender stipe, the lowest sometimes 

 with a colored bristle-tipped bract ^' long; perigynia broadly 

 ovate, prominently nerved on both sides, broadly winged above 

 the middle, finely scabrous margined, with a short bidentate 

 beak, somewhat loosely spreading when mature; scale ovate, 



