EfePOET OF THE STATE BOTANIST. 45 



spikeiets 3-S, contiguous or 3'-i' apart, ovate or subglobose above 

 the contracted staminate base, 2"-2i" wide, erect or ascend- 

 ing ; bracts scale-like, pointed, or the lowest bristb shaped, rarely 

 leaf -like ; perig^^nia ovate, faintly or conspicuously nerved on one 

 or both sides, moderately winged, with a short or long bifid beak, 

 the tips loosely spreading, a little longer than the ovate acute 

 tawny scale; achenium oval or obovate, apiculate. — (C. tenera 

 Deiv., Wood's CI. E., C. straminea var. tenera Baott., Gray's 

 Man., 5th ed.) 



A common species in copses and open fields. June, July. 



Var. brevior Dew. Every wa}' larger than the type ; spike 

 stiff and erect ; spikeiets approximate or separate, ovate or sub- 

 globose above the staminate base, 3'-5° broad ; perigjnia orbicu- 

 lar-ovate, broadly winged, nerved, with a conspicuously short 

 bifid beak, the points loosely spreading. 



Var. festucacea Boott. Spike erect, or slightly llexuous and 

 recurved ; spikeiets -t-lO, club-shaped, the sterile ]iortion usually 

 exceeding the fertile, 4"-G' long, the upper 3 or -i contiguous, the 

 others separate, forming an open or interrupted spike l^'-3' long, 

 straw-colored or tawn}'. 



Var. Crawei Boott. Differs from the last in its more robust 

 habit, its weaker and sometimes drooping spikes, its larger 

 globular spikeiets, usually only the highest with a conspicuously 

 contracted base, and in its broader winged, longer beaked 

 perigynia. 



Saratoga county. 



Var. aperta Boott. Eesembles the type in its slender habit 

 and nodding spikes, but has larger spikeiets all prominently 

 tai)ering at the base, the perigynia more broadly winged, longer 

 beaked, twice the length of the rusty brown scale. 



Var. invisa W. Boott. Stems l°-2° high, lax at the summit; 

 leaves as long as the culm, 1" wide or less ; spike narrow, flexuous ; 

 spikeiets aggregated or separate, the lowest often distant or 

 remote, 2 J "-3" broad, rusty brown ; bracts filiform, 2' -5' in length. 



Sandy soil. Suffolk county. 



29. Carex alata Torr. 

 Stems li°-3° high, firm, erect, smooth below ; leaves stiff, 

 rough-margined, I'-li'wide, shorter than the culm; spike I'-l^' 

 long or more ; spikeiets 4-10, i'-f;' in length ; ovate or obovate, 



