STANDLEY — FLORA OF GLACIER PARK. 299 



Perigynia larger, 2.5 to 5 mm. long, compressed or subtriangular. 



Spikes contiguous, sessile or short-ped uncled, forming a dense head. 

 Culms stiff, erect; scales with conspicuous white hyaline apex and 



upper margins 41. C. albo-nigra. 



Spikes not contiguous, the lowest spike (or spikes) strongly peduncled, 

 usually distant, erect or nodding. 

 Spikes 3 to 5, not oblong-cylindric; walls of perigynia not papery; 

 perigynia 2.5 to 4.5 mm. long, dull green to brownish black, 

 nerveless ventrally or obscurely nerved ; scales about the length 

 of the perigynia. 

 Perigynia slightly inflated and subtriangular, not strongly com- 

 pressed 42. C. atrosquama. 



Perigynia strongly compressed 43. C. chalciolepis. 



Spikes 6 to 10, oblong-cylindric; walls of perigynia papery; 



perigynia 5 mm. long, light green, finely 3-nerved ventrally; 



scales much shorter than the perigynia ... 44. C. mertensii. 



DD. Perigynia deeply bidentate with stiff slender teeth. 



Perigynia ascending; rootstocks short-creeping; lower sheaths more or less 



strongly filamentose; culms sharply triangular above leaves. 



53. C. vesicaria. 



Perigynia spreading at maturity; plants cespitose and sending forth long 



horizontal stolons; lower sheaths not filamentose; culms bluntly triangular 



above leaves 54. C. rostrata. 



1. Carex hepburnii Boott. On a wind-swept rocky summit above Sexton Glacier. 

 Alta. to Colo., Wash., and southeastern Alaska.— Culms 2 to 15 cm. high; leaf blades 

 acicular; spike 5 to 12 mm. long; perigynia 3 to 4 mm. long, elliptic-ovate, mem- 

 branaceous, stipitate, the beak hyaline-tipped . 



2. Carex pyrenaica Wahl. Frequent on rocky alpine slopes. Mack, to Colo., 

 Oreg., and southeastern Alaska; also in Eurasia.— Culms 3 to 20 cm. high, slender, 

 wiry; leaves 2 or 3 to a culm; spike 5 to 20 mm. long; scales chestnut-tinged; peri- 

 gynia 3 to 4 mm. long, obscurely triangular, long-beaked, the beak obliquely cut. 



3. Carex nigricans C. A. Meyer. Abundant in wet meadows above timber line; 

 sometimes in meadows at lower altitudes, as at Grinnell Lake and below Granite 

 Park. Alta. to Colo., Calif., and Alaska.— Culms 5 to 20 cm. high, stiff, firm; leaves 

 4 to 9 to a culm; spike 8 to 15 mm. long; scales tinged with dark brown; perigynia 

 4 mm. long, obscurely triangular, long-beaked, the beak obliquely cut. 



One of the most abundant plants in alpine meadows, often forming large pure 

 stands. To a large extent it replaces the grasses that commonly compose the alpine 

 meadows farther south in the Rockies. 



4. Carex gynocrates Wormskj. In a marsh along Swiftcurrent Creek below Lake 

 McDermott; abundant in this one locality, growing with Petasites sagittata, Eriopho- 

 rum, etc. Greenl. to Alaska, south to N. Y., Mich., and Colo.; also in Siberia.— 

 Culms 10 to 30 cm. high, smooth; leaf blades filiform; spike bractless, 5 to 15 mm. 

 long; perigynia 3 mm. long, biconvex, sub coriaceous, strongly beaked, the apex 

 hyaline. 



5. Carex douglasii Boott. Plains near east entrance, Umbach. Man. to B. C, 

 south to Nebr., N. Mex., and Calif.— Culms 6 to 30 cm. liigh; leaf blades 1 to 2.5 mm. 

 wide; spikes oblong-elliptic, aggregate in an oblong-ovoid head; perigynia concealed 

 by scales, lanceolate, 4 mm. long. 



6. Carex praegracilis W. Boott. On a dry gravelly slope along the railroad near 

 Belton. Man. to Yukon and B. C, south to Kans., Mex., and southern Calif. (C. 

 marcida Boott).— Culms 20 to 50 cm. high; leaf blades 1.5 to 3 nun. wide; spikes 

 ovoid; perigynia nearly concealed by scales, blackish in age, 3 to 4 mm. long, 1.5 

 mm. wide. 



