CYPERACKiE. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 521 



60. C iUiSktCCa, L. Fertile spikes 1-3, commonly 2, ovoid, oblong, or cylin- 

 drical, closely flowered, remote ; pcrigynia when young oblong, and contracted at each 

 end, at maturity roundish-obovoid, scarcely inflated, with more obscure nerves, and 

 a slightly-bent point, longer than the ovate pointed or awned scale ; achenium 

 triquetrous, flattened at the top, contracted towards the base, distinctly dotted under 

 a lens. (C. Meadii, Dew.) — Wet meadows and margins of streams, New Eng- 

 land to Wisconsin, and south westward. — Very variable in the length and thick- 

 ness of the fertile spikes, the slender forms approaching closely to the next ; in 

 both, the shape of the fruit varies greatly with age. (Eu.) 



61. C. tetiiMica, Sctak. Fertile spikes 1-3, commonly 2, oblong-cylindrical, 

 loosely flowered, remote ; perigynia when young pointed at each end, at maturity obo- 

 ?xid, scarcely inflated, with a slightly bent point, longer than the ovate pointed or 

 awned scale; achenium ovoid-triquetrous, indistinctly dotted under a lens. (C. co- 

 noidea, Gray, Gram, cj- Gyp., not of SchL C. Woodii, Dew.) — Margins of 

 lakes and rivers, N. New York to Michigan, and southward. 



62. C Cl'dwei, Dew. Sterile spike usually solitary, or with 1 (rarely 2) 

 short additional ones at its base, the principal sometimes fertile at the apex ; 

 fertile spikes 3-6, remote, and the lowest near the root, oblong or cylindrical, densely 

 flowered, and sometimes slightly compound at the base ; pcrigynia ovoid-oblong, 

 obscurely nerved, with a short slightly bent point, longer than the rather obtuse 

 scale. (C. heterostachya, Torr.) — Clefts of rocks, Jefferson County, New York 

 (Crawe), shore of Lake Ontario (Vasey), and L. Michigan (Bull). — A very 

 variable species, rigidly erect, 4'- 12' high, in some of its forms much resembling 

 the next ; but the perigynium is less round and with fewer and more indistinct 

 nerves, the bracts do not exceed the culm, and the staminate spike is long- 

 peduncled. 



63. C. grail ilia ris, Muhl. Sterile spike sessile, or short-stalked, occa- 

 sionally bearing a few fertile flowers ; pistillate spikes 3-4, cylindrical, densely 

 flowered, the lowest sometimes very remote, or near the root ; perigynia roundish- 

 ovoid, prominently nerved, with a minute slightly bent point, longer than the acute 

 scale ; bracts long, exceeding the culm. — Wet meadows ; very common. 



64. C. Torre yi, Tuckerman. Sterile spike short-stalked ; fertile spikes 2 - 

 3, ovoid, closely approximate, all on included stalks ; pcrigynia roundish-obovoid, 

 obtuse, with conspicuous elevated nerves, and a distinct abrupt point, longer than the 

 ovate pointed scale; culm, leaves, and short bracts downy. (C. abbreviata, Schw. 

 mss. §• Boott.) — Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Schwcinitz ; and high northward. — 

 Probably often overlooked from its close external resemblance to the next, but 

 it is very distinct. 



* * Staminate spike sessile, or short-stalked (except in No. 66) : pistillate spikes 

 2-5, erect, all on more or less exserted stalks : bracts longer than the culm (ex- 

 cept in No. 66) : perigynia very obtuse, with an abrupt and minute (or almost 

 obsolete) point, green and somewhat pellucid at maturity : pistillate scales tawny, 

 fading to white. — Pallescentes. 



65. C pallescens, L. Fertile spikes 2-3, ovoid, densely flowered, approx- 

 imate ; perigynia ibovoid-oblong, obscv.rely nerved, about the length of the scale. — 

 Var. undui ata has the lower bract indented at the base with transverse waved 



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