620 CTFERACE^. l^SEDGE FAMILY.) 



both faces, the long beak rough and toothed, the margins prominent or some 

 times very narrow ; scale acute, about the length of the perigynium. — Sandj' 

 fields and banks, N. Eng. to Ohio, west and northward ; frequent. 

 *+ •*•* Perigynium ovate-lanceolate or narrower, scale-like, with little distinction 



between body and margin. 



126. C. Muskingumensis, Schwein. Robust, erect, 2-3° high ; leaves 

 many and lax, loosely sheathing, those on the sterile shoots crowded near the 

 top, all flat and long-pointed; spikes 6-12, contiguous, erect, narrowly cylin- 

 dric (often 1' long), becoming light brown and presenting a dried appearance, 

 very densely flowered; perigynium linear-lanceolate (3'Mong), prominently 

 nerved, ciliate on the white margins above, appressed, twice the length of the 

 scale or more. (C. arida, Schwein. Sf Torr.) — Woods and copses, Mich, and 

 Ohio to 111. and Wise. ; local. 



127. C. tribuloides, Wahl. Stout and erect, 2-3° high; leaves nar- 

 rower than in the last, loosely sheathing ; spikes 6-15, aggregated into an 

 oblong or somewhat interrupted heavy head, short-oblong or sometimes nearly 

 globular, green or tawny-green, compact, not narrowed above ; perigynium 

 linear-lanceolate (3" long), obscurely nerved, erect but the points conspicuous, 

 rough-margined, nearly twice the length of the scale. (C. lagopodioides, 

 Schkuhr.) — Open swales; frequent. — Var. turbXta, Bailey. Culm softer 

 and often lax ; the leaves broader ; spikes more loosely disposed, forming a head 

 1-2' long, which is slender and more or less interrupted but always erect, 

 green, becoming tawny, if at all, only when the perigynia begin to fall, obovate- 

 oblong (5 to rarely ^' long), contracted below ; perigynium ascending and more 

 appressed, the points therefore not conspicuous. Woods, throughout ; rare. 

 — Var. REDUCTA, Bailey. Very slender, 1-2° high, the culm projecting be- 

 yond the leaves ; spikes 2 - 10, small and nearly globular (usually less than 3" 

 broad), all usually distinct, the lowest separated, brown, especially at maturity, 

 the head often flexuose ; perigynium small, tlie points spreading and conspicu- 

 ous. Copses, N. Eng. to the Dakotas ; infrequent. 



Var. Bebbii, Bailey. Stiff or rather slender, erect, 1-2|° high; head 

 dense, ovoid or oblong (5-!' or very seldom 1' long), the lowest spike only 

 rarely distinct, straw-colored ; spikes small (3" long or less), their axes ascend- 

 ing ; bracts at the base of the head small or none ; points of the small perigynium 

 conspicuous. (C. Bebbii, Olney.) — Dry low grounds, throughout; common. 



Var. cristata, Bailey. Stout and stiff, l|-3° high; head more or less 

 open or at least the lower 1 or 2 spikes commonly distinct, 1' long or more, 

 green ; spikes larger than in the last and almost exactly globular, their axes 

 more divergent or fully horizontal ; bracts usually conspicuous, sometimes 

 one of them foliaceous ; perigynium spreading, the points more conspicuous. 

 (C. cristata, Schwein.) — Moist ground, throughout from Penn. northward; 

 common. 



128. C. SCOparia, Schkuhr. Rather slender but erect, 1 - 2|o high ; leaves 

 very narrow, shorter than the culm ; head short and comparatively thick, always 

 tawny or brown, bractless or nearly so ; spikes 3-8, all contiguous or bunched, 

 ovate-oblong, always prominently narrowed or cone-shaped above, ascending ; 

 perigynium as in n. 127, but erect or ascending. — Open swales, thrcughont; 

 common eastward. 



