< V1M.K \< I..1.. (SEDGE FAMILY.) Ou3 



dials, \\ ith grass-like leaves. Spikes from the axils of scale-like or leaf-like bracts, 

 simple or compound. 



§ 1. Ylt i\ l'.A. Stigmas tuv: nut lenticular, or more or less compressed. 



A. Spikes bearing both sterile and f it He flowers. 



* Spites with the sterile and fertile flowers variously disposed. 



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

 pressi d ; perigynia lanceolate, erect, finely nerved, ending in a long Hat rough- 

 margined 2-cleft beak, longer than the ovate-lanceolate mucronate soak'. — 



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

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

 wholly sterile or fertile. Perigynia somewhat 2-ranked. 



* * Sj n'tis with the upper flowers sterile, the lower fertile. 



-•- Spikes indefinite, disposal in <i • lose 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, faintly nerved at the broad base; 



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

 lina, and northward. May. — Culms l£°- 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. 



-•-*• ++ Perigynia short-stalked, truncate at the base. 



4. C. erus-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, West Florida, ami westward. May. — Culms thick and spongy, sharp- 

 angled, and, like the broad (k'~V wide) leaves, glaucous. Panicky 4'- 9' long, 

 oblong or spike-like. Perigynia widely spreading, brown at maturity. 



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

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

 broad. 



45* 



