REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST. 29 



appressed branches, or the 2 lower sometimes distinct ; bracts 

 scale-like, acuminate, the lowest bristle-pointed ; perigynia stipi- 

 tate, somewhat thick and corky, ovate, faintly nerved at the 

 truncate base, dark brown and shining, tapering above into a 

 slender, bifid, greenish beak, nearly covered by the ovate acute 

 brown scale. 



The small, short-stalked, ovate, acuminate, shining perigynia, 

 as well as the short, appressed branches of the narrow panicle 

 distinguish this species. Not rare in swampy fields. June. 



Var. ramosa Boott. Head longer and somewhat nodding, 

 spikelets compound, sometimes on appressed branches, looser or 

 more scattered. Albany county. 



4. Carex decomposita 3Tuhl. 



Stems 20'-36' high, flaccid, erect or spreading, smooth ; leaves 

 exceeding the culm, stiff, channeled below, 2"-3" wide, rough- 

 margined, filiform at the end ; spike decompound, 2-5' long, 

 dark or sometimes blackish-brown when mature; spikelets 

 numerous on spreading branches, the lower of which are distinct 

 or sometimes separated \'-\' or more and l'-2' long, those above 

 shorter and less distant, gradually tajiering to the dense apex; 

 bracts of the long branches green and filiform, the others scale- 

 like and awn-pointed ; perigynia sessile, thick, corkj^, rounded or 

 obovate, biconvex, nerved on both sides, dark-brown and shining, 

 abruptly contracted into a short bifid beak ; scale thin, ovate, 

 pointed or cuspidate, tawny or brownish. 



This species differs from others of similar growth in its thick, 

 nearly round stem, in its stiff, long, slender-pointed leaves, and 

 especially in its panicled spikelets. 



Swamps. July. Very rare or local. Yates and Seneca 

 counties. Paints Catalogue. 



5. Carex vulpinoidea Mx. 



Stems H°-2^° high, firm and erect, acutely angled and rough 

 above the smooth terete base ; leaves rough-margined, l^"-2" 

 wide, slender pointed and often surpassing the culm ; spike ^'-4' 

 long, dull brown or sometimes with a tinge of green ; spikelets 

 clustered on branches 3"-9" long, usually densely aggregated 

 above, in the lower half the clusters are mostly 3"-t)" apart; 



