EEPOBT OF THE STATE BOTANIST. 69 



the lowest often distant or remote on a filiform spreading 

 peduncle 1-2' long, loosely flowered ; bracts leaf}'^ or filiform, the 

 lowest surpassing the culm; perigynia small, ^'' wide, ovate, 

 acutish at each end, nerved, entire at the apex, twice longer than 

 the ovate, hyaline scale ; achenium obovate, substipitate. 



Shaded soil in woods. Rare. July. Otsego county. This 

 delicate carcx is distinguished from its near relatives by its slen- 

 der, loosely-Jlowered, erect or spreading spikes and its hairy 



sheaths. 



56. Car ex gracillima Sohw. 



Stems 1 8-30' high, erect, mostly smooth ; basal sheaths promi- 

 nently librillose ; leaves shorter than the culm, V-J," wide, radical 

 leaves tufted, 2"-3Y wide, rough, light green; staminate spike 

 with or without pistillate flowers at the apex, linear; pistillate 

 spikes 3-4, linear, the upper 2 or 3 approximate, the lowest dis- 

 tant, all drooping on filiform peduncles, subdensely flowered, or 

 loosely flowered at the base; bracts leafy or filiform, the lowest 

 as long as the culm ; perigynia ovate, nerved, entire at the obtuse 

 apex; scale ovate, obtuse, hyaline, one-half as long as the perigy- 

 nium ; achenium oblong-obovate, apiculate. 



Woods and fields in moist or dry soil. Very common. June. 



Very rarely the lower spikes have 1 or more additional 

 branches at the base. 



This species is well marked by the blackish purple, fibrillose 

 basal sheaths, and the obtuse perigynia of the linear, subdensely- 

 flowered, drooping spikes. 



A^ar. humulis Ballcij. A much reduced form with 2-12 

 flowered spikes and smaller perigynia. 



C. gracillima X pubescens Howe. 



Stems 15-30' high, stifi', rough; leaves U"-2y' wide, roughish 

 and sometimes hairy, shorter than the culm ; spikes approximate 

 or the lowest distant, sessile or stalked, erect; perigynia ovoid, 

 hairy with a short bidentate beak, not unlike an abortive peri- 

 gyniura of G. pubescens. (Botanical Gazette, Feb., 18bl, p. 1(39.) 

 (C. Sullivantii Bi>otL) 



In a swampy meadow. Yonkers, "Westchester county. 1878. 



A similar hybrid, but one more closely resembling 0. gracil- 

 lima, occurs in Albany and Greene counties, where it was 

 detected by Mi'. C . L. Shear. 



