CYI'ERACE.E. (SKDGE FAMILY.) 533 



nials, with f,'rass-likc leaves. Spikes from t'.ic axils of scale-like or leaf-liko bracts, 

 simple or compound. 



§ 1. VIGNEA. Stigmas tu-o: nut lenticular, or more or less compressed. 



A. Spikes bearing both sterile and fertile flowers. 



* Spikes with the sterile and flrtile flowers variouslg disposed. 



1. C. bromoides, Schk. Spikes 4-6, distinct, oblong-lanccolatc, com- 

 pressed ; pcri;,'ynia lanceolate, erect, finely nerved, ending in a long flat rou^^h- 

 margincd 2-ck'ft beak, longer than the ovate-lanccolatc mucronate scale. — 

 Swamps and bogs, Florida, and northward. March and April. — Culms tufted, 

 weak and slender, 1°- li° high. Leaves narrowly linear Spikes occasionally 

 wholly sterile or fertile. Perigynia somewhat 2-ranked. 



* * Sjiihs with the upper flowers sterile, the lower fertile. 



■t- Spikes indefinite, disposed in a close panicle. 



++ Perigynia sessile. 



2. C. decomposita, Muhl. Panicle long, drooping, the upper spike-like 

 branches densely clustered, the lower elongated, distinct, and spreading; perigy- 

 nia obovate, biconvex, nerved, abruptly short-beaked, about the length of the 

 ovate pointed white-margined scale. — Wet margins of ponds and streams, 

 Florida, and northward. May — Culms erect, stout, 2° -3° high. Panicle 

 4' - 6' long. Bracts of the lower spikes bristle-form. Perigynia dark brown at 

 maturity. 



3. C. vulpinoidea, Michx. Panicle spike-like, erect ; clusters of spikes 

 8-12, short, oval, the upper ones densely crowded; perigynia small, ovate, 

 compressed, short-beaked, 2-cleft at the orifice, fiiintly nerved at the broad base; 

 scales yellowish, mucronate. (C. multiflora, Muhl.) — Swamps, South Caro- 

 lina, and northward. May. — Culms U°-2° high. Panicle 2' -3' long, cylin- 

 drical. Bracts of the lower spikes setaceous or leaf-like, often exceeding the 

 panicle. Perigynia yellowish at maturity. 



** ■*-*■ Periqijnia short-stalked, truncate at the base. 



4. C. crus-corvi, Shuttleworth. Panicle very large, the lower branches 

 long and di-tinct, the upper short and crowded ; perigynia plano-convex, ovate, 

 strongly nerved, dilated at the base, tapering into a long and slender rough-edged 

 deeply 2-cleft beak, thrice the length of the ovate mucronate scale. — River- 

 swamps, West Florida, and westward. May. — Culms thick and spongy, sharp- 

 angled, and, like the broad (^'-|' wide) leaves, glaucous. Panicle 4'- 9' long, 

 o!)long or spike-like. Perigynia widely spreading, brown at maturity. 



5. C. stipata, Muhl. Panicle oblong ; the short ovate branches densely 

 clustered ; |K'rigynia ovate-lanceolate, strongly nerved, tapering into a stout 

 rough-edged erect-spreading 2-cleft beak; 2-3 times the length of the scale. — 

 Swamps, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. April and May. — Plant yel- 

 lowish. Culms 1°- 2° high, sharp-angled, thick and spongy. Leaves 4" -9" 

 broad. 



45* 



