30 REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST. 



bracts prominent, bristle-form or the lower filiform and sometimes 

 exceeding theculm; perigynia ovate-acuminate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 llat beneath, 2-3 nerved above, contracted into a narrow bifid 

 rough- margined beak, about as long as the ovate awn-pointed 

 scale, widely divergent at maturity. 



A coarse, homely species, somewhat variable, but the main 

 characters are too manifest to be confounded with any other 

 species. 



Comcnon in swamps, ditches and fields. June. 



Inflorescence simple or the lower spikelets sometimes branched; 

 perigyna planoconvex, stipitate, thin, spongy at the base, 

 marginless. 



Spikes brown, perigynia compressed-ovate alopecoidea. 



Spikes green, perigynia teretish-lanceolate stipata. 



6. Carex stipata Muhl. 



Stems li°-3° high, erect, flaccid, the acute angles rough above 

 the middle; leaves about as long as the culm, W-'ih," wide, 

 smooth, rough-margined ; spikes l'-3' long or more, light green ; 

 spikelets 6-15, ovoid or oblong, contiguous above, the lower sepa- 

 rate and sometimes branched, the lowest often ^'-1' in length ; 

 bracts bristle-form and inconspicuous or the lowest ^'-1' long; 

 perigynia subterete, lanceolate, prominently nerved, 2" long, 

 tapering from a stalked truncate base into a slender rough-mar- 

 gined bifid beak twice longer than the body, widely diverging 

 at maturity; scale lanceolate, thin, light brown, about one-half 

 the length of the perigynium. 



Yery easily determined by the fruit, or by the color and bristly 

 appearance of the spikes. 



Everywhere common in swampy fields. June. 



Var. crassicurta Peel: n. var. Spikelets 7-12, aggregated in an 

 ovoid or oblong head 9"-12" long, the perigynia horizontally 

 spreading or somewhat deflexed at the base, giving the spike 

 an unusually bristly appearance. This well-marked variety is 

 of a deeper green, and has a more rigid aspect than the type, 

 whereby it may be readily recognized. 



Var. subsecuta Peck n. var. Spikes 2|-'-3^' long; spikelets 

 9-12, globular, or the lower short-oblong, all conspicuously dis- 

 tinct, pale green, mostly smaller than the type, but otherwise 

 agreeing with it. 



