296 Monograph of North American Carices. 



ovatis acuminatis, infimis longissimis, foliaceis, spica multo 

 longioribus. 

 C. Willdenovii, Schk. car. ii. p. 33. t. Mmm. f. 145. Willi, 

 sp. pi. lv. p. 211. Purshfl. Arner. Sept. i. p. 29. Muhl. 

 gram. p. 230. Elliott sic. ii. p. 527. 



Culm from a span to a foot in height, very slender, shorter than the leaves, 

 acutely triquetrous, leafy below, brownish at the base. Leaves long-, 

 linear, slightly scabrous, flat, 1 — 2 lines broad. Spike about three fourths 

 of an inch long, simple: staminiferous flowers mostly 6, closely approxi- 

 mate, forming a very short summit to the spike ; glumes oblong, obtuse : 

 pistil liferous flowers 3 — 6 ; glumes ovate, acuminate, in the lowest flowers 

 foliaceous and much longer than the spike. Fruit comparatively large ; 

 when immature ovate, acuminate, at length subglobose with an abrupt 

 somewhat scabrous beak, straight ; base smoothish. 



Hab. Ill dry rocky woods ; rarely in swamps. Flowers in 

 the latter part of May and beginning of June ; rare. Penn- 

 sylvania to North Carolina. 



Obs. 1. Culm cespitose, usually about three from each radi- 

 cal sheath. The two inferior glumes 1 — 2| inches long. 

 2. This species, when young, has much the habit of Scirpus 

 planifolias, Muhl. 



0. Car ex polytrichoides, Muhlenberg. 



C. spica simplici ; fructibus oblongo-lanceolatis, compresso- 



triquetris, obtusis, emarginatis ; glumis oblongis, obtusis, 



mucronatis. 

 C. polytrichoides, Muhl. in Willd. sp. pi. iv. p. 213. Schk. 



car. t. lii. f..l38. Purshfl. Am. i. p. 29. Muhl. gram. p. 



230. Deivey caricog. in Sill. jour. ix. p. 258. 

 C. leptalea, Wahl. Act. holm. 1803. p. 139. 

 C. microstachya, Mich. fl. bor. Amer. ii. p. 1 69. 



Root fibrous. Culm a span or more high, longer than the leaves, and almost 

 naked, triquetrous and retrorsely scabrous on the margin, very slender. 

 J.&tves mostly subradical and annotinous, very narrow, grooved, becom- 



