~~ 
SEDGE FAMILY. 335 
, 
inate spike conspicuous, 3''-5'' long, sessile or short-stalked; pistillate spikes 2 or 3, scattered, the 
lower slender-stalked and subtended by a foliaceous bract which often overtops the culm; peri- 
gynia 1'’-1%4"’ long. Northern Michigan to British Columbia and Oregon, south in the Rocky 
Mountains to Colorado. Perhaps a distinct species. 
129. Carex praécox Jacq. Vernal Sedge. (Fig. 799.) 
Carex praecox Jacq. Fl. Austr. 5: 23. pl. 446. 1778. 2 
Dark green, stoloniferous, culms very slender, erect 
or reclining, smooth, 3’-12’ long. Leaves 4//-1%4’’ 
wide, almost always much shorter than the culm; 
lower bract subulate, (’-1’ long; staminate spike 
sessile or very short-stalked, usually large and con- 
‘spicuous; pistillate spikes 1-3, all close together at 
the summit, oblong, several-flowered, 3/’-6’’ long, 
about 2'4’’ in diameter, sessile or the lower short- 
stalked, sometimes pistillate at the summit; peri- 
gynia oblong or obovoid, sharply 3-angled, pubescent, 
brown, about 1’’ long; tipped with a very minute 
beak; scales ovate, purple-brown with a lighter mid- 
vein, acute, cuspidate or the lower rough-awned, 
about equalling the perigynia; stigmas 3. 
Eastern Massachusetts to New York. Naturalized from 
Europe. Native also of Asia. May-June. 
Ths 130. Carex nigro-marginata Schwein. 
\ Black-edged Sedge. (Fig. 800. ) 
\ C. nigro-marginata Schwein. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 1:68. 1824. 
Bright green, strongly stoloniferous, culms fili- 
form, erect or spreading, 2’-8’ long. Leaves 1//—2// 
/ 
{= wide, very much longer than the culms, rather stiff, 
Ww x | often 12’ or more long; bracts very short and subu- 
} late or wanting; staminate spike sessile, inconspicu- 
ous, 2’’-3’’ long, purple; pistillate spikes 1-3, few- 
3’ long; perigynia oblong, narrowed at the base into 
a short stipe, pubescent or nearly glabrous, 1//-11%4’’ 
long, about 14’ thick, 1-ribbed on each side, tipped 
with a cylindric-subulate 2-toothed beak one-third to 
one-halfas long the body; scales ovate, acute or cuspi- 
date, green with purple margins or variegated, rather 
‘4 
if | 
| || flowered, sessile at the base of the staminate, about 
| 
| 
| 
/| 
SAW -— \ i Seri anata 
\ . onger than the perigynia; stigmas 3. 
. . y, 3 
Uf DS SJ Dry soil, New York to North Carolina. May-July. 
131. Carex umbellata Schk. Umbel-like Sedge. (Fig. 8or.) 
Carex umbellata Schk. Riedgr. Nachtr. 75. f. 777. 1806. 
Carex umbellata var. vicina Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 11: 
317. pl. D. f. 13. 1826. 
Rather light green, closely tufted and matted, sto- | 
loniferous, culms filiform, very nearly smooth, 1/-6/ | 
long, erect or reclining. Leaves 4//-1%’’ wide, usu- 
ally much exceeding the culm, sometimes 1° long, 
the old sheaths fibrillose; staminate spike solitary, 
terminal, 14’ or less long, commonly conspicuous; 
pistillate spikes 1-3, all filiform-stalked from the basal 
sheaths or I or 2 of them sessile or very nearly so at 
the base of the staminate, oyoid-oblong, several-flow- 
ered, 2’’-4’’ long; perigynia oval, finely pubescent, 
pale, obtusely 3-angled, the body rather less than 1// 
long, tipped with a subulate 2-toothed beak of nearly 
its length; scales ovate-lanceolate, acuminate or short- 
awned, about as long]as the perigynia; stigmas 3. 
“Dry soil, Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territory, New 
Jersey, the Indian Territory and Oregon. May-July. 
22 
