520 CTPERACEvE. (SEDGK FAMILY.) 



what remote ; perigynia elliptical, obtuseh triangular, compressed, obscurely 

 nerved, with a distinctly notched orifice, scarcely equalling the ovate sharp- 

 pointed or short-awned (dark-brown or brownish) scale. (C. cancscens, L., in 

 part.) — Peat-bogs, New England to Wisconsin, and northward ; also southward 

 along the Alleghanies. (Eu.) 



56. C IStiriiSa, L. Spikes 3 - 4, oblong-ovoid, approximate, all on short fili- 

 form stalks, at length drooping; perigynia ovoid, with a short notched point, 

 about the length of the ovate acute (brown or dark purple) scale. — Alpine sum- 

 mits of the White Mountains, New Hampshire. — About 12'- 15' high, with 

 rather rigid leaves, nearly equalling the culm. Fruit at first straw-color, mostly 

 becoming dark purple or nearly black. (Eu.) 



57. C §Iso»*fii3!Sa, Dew. Spikes about 5, cylindrical, erect, more or lesa 

 distant, greenish turning straw-color, (J'-l^' long,) and the lowest rather re- 

 mote, all androgynous and densely flowered ; the terminal one about half stami- 

 nate, the rest with only a few barren flowers at the base, the 2-3 lower on short 

 stalks ; perigynia broadly obovate, abruptly contracted at the base into a short stalk, 

 with an extremely minute entire point, little longer than the short-pointed somewhat 

 obovate scale. — Marshes, S. Pennsylvania to Illinois, and southward. — Plant 

 1° -3° high. 



$ 2. Perigynia without a beak, smooth, slightly inflated, bluntly triangular, nerved, 

 with an obtuse and pointless orifice, or a short (and straight or oblique) entire oi 

 notched point : bracts leaf-like, sheathing : slaminaie spike solitary (except some- 

 times in No. 62), or androgynous and pistillate above; the rest all fertile. 



* Staminate spike on an derated stalk (short-stalked or sessile in No. 63, 64, in 

 No. 61 occasionally with 1-2 small ones at its base) : pistillate spikes 1-6, 

 erect, the upper on very short, the lower on more or less elongated exserted 

 stalks (short and included in No. 64) : bracts shorter than the culm (except in 

 No. 58 and 63) : perigynia with an entire and straight or obliquely bent point, glau- 

 cous-green when young, becoming cream-colored or yellow at maturity, sometimes 

 spotted with purple (stigmas only 2 in No. 58) : pistillate scales dark-brown 

 with white margins, fading to tawny. (Leaves mostly radical, more or less 



glaUCOUS.) PAXfCEiE. 



58. C. *llE""<'a, Nutt. Fertile spikes 3-4, oblong, loosely flowered, the lowest 

 often very remote ; perigynia obovate or pear-shaped, obtuse, longer than the ovate 

 acute scale ; stiginas 2 ; acheniwm lenticular. ( C. pyriformis, Schw. ) — Wet grassy 

 banks, especially on limestone ; New England to Wisconsin, and northward. 

 — A slender, delicate species, 4' -8' high, with long grassy leaves, and bracts 

 exceeding the culm. Sterile spike often with some fertile flowers at the apex. 



59. C. Isvida, Willd. Fertile spikes 1-2, rarely with a third near the 

 base of the culm, 10- 1 5-flowered; perigynia ovoid-oblong, with faint pellucid nerves, 

 tipped with a straight obtuse point, rather longer than the ovate scale. (C. 

 limosa, var. livida, Wcdd. C. Grayana, Dew.) — Peat-bogs and wet pine barrens, 

 New Jersey, Oiiskany, New York, and high northward. — Occurs rarely with a 

 single (sterile) spike, or with an additional fertile one on an erect stalk 6' -9' 

 long, arising from the base of the culm. Plant very glaucous, the leaves rigid 

 and finely tapering. (Eu.) 



