324 CYPERACEAE. 
97. Carex viridula Michx. Green Sedge. (Fig. 767.) 
= Carex viridula Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 170. 1803. 
/ ie flava var. viridula Bailey, Mem. Torr. Club, 1: 31. 
I 
Glabrous, bright green, culms slender, smooth, erect, 
4’-15/ tall, often exceeded by the erect narrow basal 
leaves. Leaves 1’ or less wide, the bracts similar us- 
ually strictly erect and much overtopping the spikes; 
staminate spike sessile, sometimes pistillate at the top; 
pistillate spikes 2-5, all close together and sessile or the 
lower distant and short-stalked, oblong-cylindric or ob- 
long, 2//-6’’ long, 2’” or less in diaineter; perigynia 
ovoid-oblong, 1/’ or less long, strongly few-nerved, nar- 
rowed at the base, tapering into a 2-toothed beak about 
one-half as long as the body; scales ovate, shorter than 
the perigynia and about as wide; stigmas 3. 
In bogs and on wet rocks, Newfoundland to Hudson Bay 
and the Northwest Territory, south to Maine, Pennsylvania, 
Minnesota, Utah and Washington. Summer. 
Carex filva Gooden., a species of this group, was found many years ago at Tewksbury, Mass., 
evidently a waif from Europe, and is reported from Newfoundland. 
Carex distans I,., a related species, has been collected on ballast at Philadelphia. 
g8. Carex palléscens L. Pale Sedge. (Fig. 768.) 
Carex pallescens I. Sp. Pl. 977. 1753. 
Light green, culms slender, erect, rough above, 
4/-20/ tall. Leaves flat, 1/’/-1%4’’ wide, pubescent at 
least on the sheaths, shorter than the culm; lower 
bract similar to the culm-leaves, erect or nearly so 
and exceeding the spikes; staminate spikes solitary, 
stalked; pistillate spikes 2-4, oblong, erect or some- 
what speading, slender stalked or the upper one ses- \ 
sile,. densely many-flowered, 4//-9’ long, 2/- | 
214// in diameter usually clustered; perigynia short- y 
oblong, pale, 1’’ long, 14’’ thick, obtuse, thin, faintly Y Sk 
few-nerved, beakless, the orifice entire; scales ovate, 
membranous, cuspidate or short-awned, equalling or AG 
the upper shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 3. Z\\ 
In fields and meadows, Nova Scotia to western On- \ 2 N 
J 
tario, south to Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Illinois and \ 
Wisconsin. Ascends to 3500 ft. in Vermont. Also in 
Europe. May-July. 
99. Carex abbreviata Prescott. Torrey’s Sedge. (Fig. 769.) 
Carex Torreyi Tuckerm. Enum. Meth. 21. 1843. Not 
C. Torreyana Schwein. 1824. 
Carex abbreviata Prescott; Boott, Trans. Linn. Soc. 
20: 141. 1846. 
Pale green, culms slender, rather stiff, erect, 10’— 
20’ tall, finely ciliate-pubescent. Leaves about 1’ 
wide, erect, elongated but*shorter than the culm, 
finely and usually densely pubescent; lower bract 
14/-2/ long, spreading or ascending, pubescent; 
staminate spike solitary, short-stalked; pistillate 
spikes 1-3, short oblong, dense, 3’’-5’’ long, about 
3/’ thick, sessile or the lower one short stalked, 
erect, clustered; perigynia broadly oblong or ob- 
ovoid, glabrous, about 1’ long and more than 14’ 
thick, strongly many-nerved, obtuse, abruptly 
tipped by a short cylindric beak, scales cuspi- 
date, shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 3. 
In dry soil, New York to the Northwest Territory, 
south in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado. June-July. 
