CYPERACE.E. (sedge FAMILY.) 561 



* * Spikes with the upper /lowers sterile, the lower fertile. 



•t- Spikes indejinite, disposed in a. dose panicle. 



++ Perigynia sessile. 



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

 like branches densely clustered, the lower elongated, distinct, and spreading ; 

 perigynia obovate, biconvex, nerved, abruptly short-beaked, about the length 

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

 streams. May. — Culms erect, stout, 2° -3° high. Panicle 4' -6' long. 

 Bracts of the lower spikes lu-istle-form. Perigynia dark brown at maturity. 



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

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

 roundish, compressed, short-beaked, 2-cleft at the orifice, faintly nerved at the 

 broad base ; scales yellowish, raucronate. — Low ground. May. — Culms 

 1^0 _90 high. Panicle 2' -3' long, cylindrical. Bracts of the lower spikes 

 setaceous or leaf-like, often exceeding the panicle. Perigynia yellowish at 

 maturity. 



*+ ++ Perigynia short-stalked, truncate at the base : culms acute-angled, stout. 



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

 long and distinct, 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, Florida, and westward. May. — Culms, like the 

 broad {Y - i' wide) leaves, glaucous. Panicle 4' - 9' long, oblong or spike-like. 



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

 clustered ; perigynia ovate-lanceolate, strongly nerved, tapering into a stout 

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

 — Swamps." April -May. — Plant yellowish. Culms l°-2° high. Leaves 

 4" -9" broad. 



■*- t- Spikes 4-10, disposed in a simple spike or head, or (in No. 6) the lowest 



ones compound. 



6. C. sparganioides, Muhl. Spikes 6-10, ovoid, the upper crowded, 

 the lower scattered and often compound ; perigynia flattened, ovate, acute at 

 the base, narrowly margined, nerveless, spreading, with a short and rough 2- 

 cleft beak, twice as long as the thin ovate scale. — Upper districts of Georgia, 

 and northward. — Culms stout. 2° high. Leaves broadly linear, as long as 

 the culm. Common spike 2' - 4' long. Perigynia yellowish. 



7. C. Muhlenbergii, Schkr. Spikes 5-8, OToid, approximate, or 

 crowded in an oblong head; perigynia round-ovate, plano-convex, strongly 

 nerved, or (in var. enervis, Boott) nerveless, with a short and broad rough- 

 edged 2-cleft beak, barely longer than the ovate short-pointed scale. — Dry 

 sterile soil, Florida, and northward. — Culms 12'- 18' high, rigid, rough above, 

 twice as long as the narrow leaves. Head or spike 1' long. Bracts bristle- 

 form, longer than the spikes. 



8. C. cephalophora, Muhl. Spikes 5-6, small, crowded in a compact 

 ovoid head ; perigynia broadly ovate, few-nerved, short and rough-beaked, as 



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