224 CYI^ERACEAE 



chestnut; perigynia i mm. long, ovate, tliiek, strongly plano-convex, nei-veless 

 ventrally, tapering into a beak 1 3 length of body. 



Sierra Nevada in Sierra and Eldorado cos., 6000 to 7000 ft. 



Lots. — Webber Lake, Kcnntdy 4' D"1t'i "0; T.Tllac, Dudlci/. 



Ref. — Gare.x p.iUCiFKUCTUS Mackenzie, Bull. Turr. Club 43:615 (1917), type loc. Devils 

 Basin, Eldorado Co., Brainerd 200. 



Sect. 13. Canescentes Fries. Cespitose, some species with slender stolons. Culms triangular. 

 Sheaths not cross-rugulose. Spikes 1 to 10, Avith few to many perigynia, simple, the term- 

 inal gyuaeeandrous, the lateral pistillate or g^'naecandrous, or rarely all androgynous. 

 Bracts inconspicuous. Perigynia piano- or bi-couvex, white-puncticulate, lanceolate, ovoid, 

 oval or obovoid, appressed to spreading, beakless to prominently beaked, more or less 

 nerved on both sides, not winged or margined, but acute-angled above, nearly or entirely 

 filled by the lenticular a.chene. Stigmas 2. 



58. C. disperma Dewey. Culms very weak, 1.5 to 6 dm. high ; leaf-blades 

 0.75 to 2 mm. wide, flaccid: spikes distant or upper aggregated, with 1 to 5 

 ascending perigynia and 1 or 2 staminate flowers ; scales shorter than perigynia, 

 ovate-triangular, .sharp-pointed ; perigynia ovoid-elliptic, 2 mm. long, finelj- 

 nerved, abruptly beaked, the beak smooth, 0.25 mm. long. 



Boggy spots, Sierra Nevada from Tulare Co. to Mono Co., chiefly on the 

 east side. North to Alaska, east to Newfoundland. Also northern Eurasia. 



Locs. — Nw. of Whitney Mdws., C'oviUe 4' Fimstoii 1697; Bishop Creek, Inyo Co., Davidson 

 2545; Walker Lake, Mono Co., Congdim. 



Befs. — Carex DISPERM.A. Dewey, Am. .Tour. Sci. 8:266 (1824), type from Mass., Dewey. 

 C. tenella Schk. Eiedgi-. 1:23, pi. Pp. f. 104 (1801), Schkuhr guessed the tvpe came from 

 Saxony; Kiik. in Engler, Pflzr. 4=°:223, fig. 36a-c (1909), not C. teneUa Thuill.', 1799. 



59. C. canescens L. Culms 1 to 8 dm. high; leaf-blades glaucous, flat. 2 

 to 4 mm. wide: spikes 4 to 9, 3 to 12 nun. long; scales shorter than perigynia, 

 ovate, sharp-pointed; perigATiia appressed-ascending, 1.8 to 3 mui. long, faintly 

 few-nerved, minutely beaked, the beak with margins minutely serrulate. 



Swamps and bogs, higher Sierra Nevada from Tulare Co. to Placer Co., 5000 

 to 9000 ft. North to Alaska, east to Virginia. 



Locs. — Mineral King, Coville 4' Funston 1506; Walker Lake, Mono Co., Congdon; Glen 

 Alpine Sprs., Eldorado Co., L. M. Lathrop : Squaw Valley, Placer Co., L. S. Smith 558a, 560. 



Eefs. — Carex canescens L. Sp. PI. 2:974 (1733), type European; Kiik. in Engler, Pflzr. 

 4^:216, fig. 35C-E (1909) ; Mackenzie, Er^hea 8:49, fig. 22 (1922). C. lagopina W. Boott in 

 Bot. Cal. 2:233 (1880), not Walih 



60. C. arcta Boott. Culms 1.5 to 8 dm. high, very rough above ; leaf-blades 

 2 to 4 mm. wide ; spikes 5 to 15, 5 to 10 mm. long, aggregated ; scales shorter 

 than perigynia, ovate, obtusish to short-cuspidate: perigynia ascending or some- 

 what spreading, ovate, 2 to 3 mm. long, lightly nerved at base ventrally. rounded 

 at base, the beak shallowl.v bidentate. 



Swamps and wet woods, Humboldt Co. (Eureka. Tracy 1195, 3806). North 

 to British Columbia, east to New Briuiswick. 



Eefs.— C.iKEX .\RCTA Boott, 111. Car. 4:155, pi. 497 (1867) ; Kiik. iu Engler, Pflzr. 4=°:228, 

 fig. 37A-B (1909). C. canescens L. var. pohjstachya Boott iu Richards. Ai'ct. Exped. 2:344 

 (1852), type from British America. 



Sect. 14. Polytrichoideae Tuckerm. Densely tufted. Culms slender. Leaf-blades narrow. 

 Spike solitary, linear, androgynous, bractless. Rachis straight, not dilated. Perigynia 

 appressed, membranaceous, tlie upper part empty, oblong-elliptic, many-nerved, not 2-ribbed, 

 compressed-triangidar, beakless. Aclienes triangular, the sides concave. Stigmas 3, short. 



61. C. leptalea Wahl. Culms 1.5 to 6 dm. high; leaf-bla(?es 0.5 to 1.25 mm. 

 wide; spike 4 to 15 nmi. long; pistillate scales ovate, obtuse to short-pointed, 

 3/2 length of perigynia; perig,ynia 1 to 10, 2.5 to 4.5 mm. long, more or less 

 strongly overlapping, round or somewhat flattened in cross-section. 



Bogs and wet meadows, Humboldt Co. (Patricks Point, Tracy 4365). North 

 to Alaska, east to the Atlantic. 



Refs.— Carex leptalea Wahl. Vet. Acad. Hand!. Stockholm 139 (1803); Kiik. in Engler, 

 Pflzr. 4=°:89, fig. 21c-g (1909). C. pohjirichoides Mulil. in Willd. Sp. PI. 4:213 (1805), type 

 from Penn. 



