CYPEBACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 563 



dioides, Schr.) — Wet banks and swamps. North Carolina, and westward. — 

 Culms taller (2° - 2^° liigh), and leaves wider thau the last. Spikes some- 

 times fewer, smaller and scattered. (Var. rediicta, Baileij.) 



16. C. straminea, Schk. Spikes 3-6, distinct, ovoid; perigynia ovate 

 or round-ovate, broatUy winged, abruptly narrowed into a short 2-cleft beak, 

 somewhat tawny and spreading at maturity, longer than the ovate-lanceolate 

 scale. — Dry ground. — Culms l°-2° high, rather rigid, exceeding the nar- 

 row-linear leaves. 



Var. fcenea, Torr. Spikes longer and narrower, pale green ; perigynia 

 ovate, appre.^sed, less broadly margined, tapering into a more slender beak; 

 culms and leaves less rigid. — Low ground. Common. 



Var. mirabilis, Tuck. Tall (2° -3° high), and rather weak; spikes pale 

 green, approximate ; perigynia ovate lanceolate, spreading at the tip, or 

 slightly recurved. — Low woods iu the upper districts. 



17. C. alata, Torr. Spikes 6-10, large (6"- 8" long), ovoid, approxi- 

 mate ; perigynia flat, broadly obovate, wing-margined, abruptly contracted 

 into a very short beak, longer than the lanceolate scale ; nut oval, stalked. — 

 Marshes, Florida to North Carolina. —Culms 2° -3° high, leafy below the 

 middle. Spikes brownish at maturity. Perigynia 2^" long. 



2. Uppermost spikes (1 or 2) sterile or androgynous, the lower fertile. 



18. C. torta, Boott. Sterile spike solitary, peduncled ; fertile spikes 

 mostly 3, linear-club-shaped, loosely flowered below, spreading, the lowest 

 peduncled ; perigynia elliptical, tapering and at length spreading or recurved 

 at the apex, nerveless or nearly so, as long as the oblong black scale ; culms 

 smooth (1° high) ; leaves narrowly linear. — Mountain swamps, Nortli Caro- 

 lina, and northward. 



19. C. Strieta, Good. Sterile spikes 1-2; fertile spikes 2-4, linear- 

 cylindrical, sessile or the lowest short-peduncled, erect, dense-flowered ; peri- 

 gynia elliptical, erect, nerveless, commonly shorter than the narrow obtuse 

 reddish brown scale ; culms (2° high) rough-angled ; leaves linear. — Swamps 

 in the upper districts. 



20. C. crinita, Lam. Sterile spikes mostly 2, often with fertile flowers 

 intermixed ; fertile spikes 3-4, long-cylindrical, dense-flowered, on long droop- 

 ing peduncles ; perigynia round-ovate or obovate, somewhat inflated, 2-nerved, 

 abruptly short-pointed, shorter than the long-awned scale ; culms rough-angled 

 above (2° -3° high)- — Swamps in the upper districts. — Spikes U'-3' long. 



21. C. gynandra, Schw. Perigynium ovate or elliptical, acute, ob- 

 scurely nerved at the base, the upper ones crowded, and as long as tlie acute 

 scale, the lower ones scattered, and shorter than the awned scales, sheaths 

 scabrous ; otherwise like the last. — Damp woods, Florida, and northward. 



§ 2. Carex proper. — Stifjmas 3 : nut 3-angied : terminal spikes commonly 

 sterile, the others fertile. 



1. Spike sol it an/. 

 * Sterile at the summit. 



22. C. polytrichoides, Muhl. Spike linear, few-flowered ; perigynia 

 lanceolate-oblong, many-nerved, obtuse and entire at the apex, twice as long 



