550 
CYPERACEJ2. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 
53. C. 12 uxl>a until, Wahl. Spikes 3-4, obovoid or oblong , 
the uppermost short-stalked (rarely altogether staminate), the others 
nearly sessile , the lowest somewhat remote ; perigynia elliptical, ob¬ 
tusely triangular, compressed, obscurely nerved, with a distinctly 
notched orifice scarcely equalling the ovate sharp-pointed or short- 
awned scale. (C. canescens, L., in part, and Boott in Hook . FL Bor .- 
Jim.) — Peat-bogs, Massachusetts to Wisconsin. 
54. C. atrata, L. Spikes 3 - 4, oblong-ovoid, approximate , all 
on short filiform stalks , at length drooping ; perigynia ovoid, with a 
short notched point, about the length of the ovate acute scale. —Al¬ 
pine summits of the White Mountains, N. Hampshire. — About 12/ 
-15' high, with rather rigid leaves, nearly equalling the culm. Fruit 
at first straw-color, often becoming dark purple or nearly black. 
55. C. Shortiana, Dew. Spikes about 5, cylindrical, erect , 
more or less distant, and the lowest rather remote, all androgynous and 
densely flowered ; the terminal one about half staminate, the rest with 
only a few barren flowers at the base, the 2-3 lower on short stalks; 
perigynia broadly obovate , abruptly contracted at the base into a short 
stalk , with an extremely minute , entire point , but little longer than the 
short-pointed somewhat obovate scale. — Marshes, S. Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, and westward. 
§ 2. Perigynia without a beak , smooth, slightly inflated , bluntly trian¬ 
gular, nerved, with an obtuse and pointless orifice, or short (and 
straight or oblique) entire or notched point : bracts leaf-like, sheath¬ 
ing : staminate spike solitary (except sometimes in No. 60), or an¬ 
drogynous and pistillate above ; the rest all fertile . 
* Staminate spike on an elevated stalk (short-stalked or sessile in Nos. 
61, 62, in No. 60 occasionally with 1-2 small ones at its base): 
pistillate spikes 1 — 6, erect, the upper on very short, the lower on 
more or less elongated exserted stalks (short and included in No. 
62) : bracts shorter than the culm (except in Nos. 56 and 61): V cri ' 
gynia with an entire and straight or obliquely-bent point, glaucous- 
green when young , becoming cream-colored or yellow at maturity , 
sometimes spotted with purple (stigmas only 2 in No. 56) : pistillate 
scales dark-brown with white margins, fading to tawny. (Leaves 
mostly radical, more or less glaucous.) — Panicea:. 
56. C. a urea, Nutt. Fertile spikes 3-4, oblong, loosely flower - 
ed, the lowest often very remote ; perigynia obovate or pear-shaped , 
obtuse, longer than the ovate acute scale; stigmas 2; achenium lentic¬ 
ular. (L. pyriformis, Schw ) —Wet grassy banks, especially on lime¬ 
stone ; New England to Michigan. — A slender, delicate species, 
with long grassy leaves, and bracts exceeding the culm. The starni- 
nate spike often bears fertile flowers at the apex. 
57. C* livida, Willd. Fertile spikes 1-2, 10- 15-jlowered, rare¬ 
ly with a third near the base of the culm; perigynia ovoid-oblong, with 
