Monograph of North American Carices. 301 



inferne superneve staminiferis ; fructibus erectis, lanceola- 

 tis, acuminates, scabris, nervosis, bifidis, gluma ovato-lan- 

 ceolata longioribus. 

 C. bromoides, Willd. sp. pi. iv. p. 258. Schk. car. t. Xxx. f. 

 176. bona. Purshfl. i. p. 35. Muhl. gram. p. 219. Elli- 

 ott sh. ii. p. 528. Dewey 1. c. viii. p. 264. 



Culm a foot or more in height, when tall, generally decumbent, a little 

 leafy below, (the annotinous shoots bearing 1 the chief parts' of the leaves 

 in the loose tuft) slender, triquetrous and scabrous. Leaves narrow, 

 scabrous on the margin, at first longer, but at length shorter than the 

 culm ; sheaths smooth, whitish, membranaceous. Spikelets sometimes 

 only 2 — 3, the lower ones at some distance from one another, upper ones 

 crowded, few-flowered ; sometimes the uppermost one is sterile below, 

 the others being androgynous, with sterile florets both above and below ; 

 generally there are but about two sterile florets on the summit of each 

 spike ; occasionally an entire sterile spike occurs ; at the base of the 

 lowest spike is a small deciduous lanceolate scabrous bractea. Sterile 

 glumes oblong-lanceolate, mucronate, shorter than the fruit, chaffy, 

 brown, with a green midrib. Fruit obscurely triangular, attenuated 

 into a short bifid neck, scabrous on the distinct margin. Seed com- 

 pressed. 



Hab. In wet boggy places : common. Flowers in May. 



Obs. There is some contradiction in the description of this 

 plant by Willdenow, Schkuhr and Muhlenberg, principal- 

 ly owing to the ease with which, both in a living state and 

 in dried specimens, certain parts of the fructification are 

 lost. Still it is a species easily recognised when once 

 known. 



14. Carex retroflexa, Muhlenberg. 



C. spiculis subquaternis, subapproximatis, ovatis, infima bre- 

 vi-bracteata ; fructibus ovato-lanceolatis, bidentatis, mar- 

 gine glabris, reflexo-patentibus, glumis ovatis acutis 

 subsequalibus. 



C. retroflexa, Schk. car. ii. p. 11. t. Kkk. f. 140. bona. 

 Willd. spec. iv. p. 235. Purshfl. i. p. 35. Muhl. gram. 

 p. 219. Dewey 1. c. vii- p. 271. Elliott sic. ii. p. 5-28, 



