522 CTPRRACE^E. (SEDGK FAMILY.) 



lines. (C. undulata, Kunze.) — Meadows, New England to Pcnn. and north- 

 ward. — Plant 8' - 18' high, with slightly pubescent culm and leaves. (En.) 



66. C COiaoideia, Schfe. Staminate spike on a long stalk ; fertile 2-3, 

 oblong, closely Jicive red, the lower distant; perigynia oblong-conical, with impressed 

 nerves, slightly oblique at the summit, rather longer (or sometimes shorter) than 

 the sharply pointed or awned scale; bracts not exceeding the culm. (C. tetanica, 

 Schw. Sc Torr., not of Schk.) — Moist meadows ; rather common. 



67. C. grisea, Wahl. Fertile spikes 3 - 5, oblong, loosely flowered, remote, 

 and the lowest distant ; perigynia ovoid-oblong , rather longer than the ovate awned 

 scale. (C. laxiflora, Schk., not of Lam.) — Var. mutica has longer cylindrical 

 spikes, short-awned scales, and the leaves and bracts pale green and glaucous. 

 (C. laxiflora'? var. mutica, Torr. 8p Gr. C. flaccospcrma, Dew.) — Moist woods 

 and meadows; common, especially southward. The variety, with spikes l'-l^ 

 long, occurs in New Jersey (Knieskern) and in the South. 



* # * Uppermost spike more or less pistillate at the apex (rarely all staminate) ; 

 pistillate spikes 3-5, oblong or cylindrical, loosely flowered, distant, on exserted 

 filiform and mostly drooping stalks: bracts equalling or often exceeding the 

 culm : perigynia oblong, with a short and abrupt notched point (obsolete in 

 No. 70), green and membranaceous at maturity: pistillate scales tawny or 

 white. — Gracillimje. 



■«- Fertile spikes nodding or pendulous. 



68. C. Davlsii, Schw. & Torr. Fertile spikes oblong-cylindrical, rather 

 thick ; perigynia somewhat contracted at each end, scarcely longer than the conspic- 

 uously awned scale. (C. aristata, Dew., not of R. Br. C. Torreyana, Dew.) — 

 Wet meadows, Massachusetts to Wisconsin, and southward. — Larger than the 

 next (l^°-2° high), and with stouter and longer spikes. 



69. C. fonildsa, Dew. Fertile spikes oblong, short, all commonly with 2 - 

 3 barren flowers or empty scales at the base ; perigynia somewhat contracted at 

 each end, nearly twice as long as the pointed or cuspidate scale. — Wet meadows ; 

 Massachusetts to W. New York. 



70. C. graciSlima, Schw. Fertile spikes linear, slender ; perigynia obtuse 

 and slightly oblique at the orifice, longer than the oblong awned scale. (C. digita- 

 lis, Schw. $r Torr., not of Willd.) —Wet meadows, New England to Kentucky, 

 Wisconsin, and northward. — When this species occurs with the uppermost 

 spike altogether staminate, it resembles C. arctata ; but is readily distinguished 

 by the obtuse, beakless, and sessile perigynium. 



+_ ._ Fertile spikes nearly erect, all but the lowest short-pedunchd or nearly sessile. 



71. C. aestivalis, M. A. Curtis. Spikes slender, loosely flowered; peri- 

 gynia acutish at both ends, twice the length of the ovate obtuse or mucronate scale, 

 achenium somewhat stipitate ; sheaths of the lower leaves pubescent : otherwise 

 nearly as the last, but a smaller plant (1°-I£° high). — Saddle Mountain, W. 

 Massachusetts (Dewey), Pokono Mountain, Penn. {Darlington 4- Townsend), and 

 along the Alleghanies to Virginia and southward. 



§ 3. Perigynia without a beak, hairy (in No. 73 becoming smooth at maturity), 

 slightly inflated, bluntly 3-angled, obtuse, conspicuously nerved, with a minute 



