. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 563 



dioicles, Scftr.) Wet banks and swamps. North Carolina, and westward. 

 Culms taller (2-2 high), and leaves wider than the last. Spikes some- 

 times fewer, smaller ami scattered. (Var. reducta, Bailey.) 



16. C. Straminea, Schk. Spikes 3 - 6, distinct, ovoid ; perigynia ovate 

 or round-ovate, broadly winged, abruptly narrowed into a short 2-cleft beak, 

 somewhat tawny and spreading at maturity, longer than the ovate-lanceolate 

 scale. Dry ground. Culms l-2 high, rather rigid, exceeding the nar- 

 row-linear leaves. 



Var. foenea, Torr. Spikes longer and narrower, pale green; perigynia 

 ovate, appr'essed, less broadly margined, tapering into a more slender beak; 

 culms and leaves less rigid. Low ground. Common. 



Var. mirabilis, Tuck. Tall (2 -3 high), and rather weak; spikes pale 

 green, approximate ; perigyuia ovate-lanceolate, spreading at the tip, or 

 slightly recurved. Low woods in the upper districts. 



1". C. alata, Torr. Spikes 6-10, large (6"- 8" long), ovoid, approxi- 

 mate ; perigynia flat, broadly obovate, wing-margined, abruptly contracted 

 into a very short beak, longer than the lanceolate scale ; nut oval, stalked. 

 Marshes, Florida to North Carolina. Culms 2 -3 high, leafy below the 

 middle. Spikes brownish at maturity. Perigyuia 2^" long. 



2. Uppermost spikes (1 or 2) sterile or androgynous, the lower fertile. 



18. C. torta, Boott. Sterile spike solitary, peduucled ; fertile spikes 

 mostly 3, linear-club-shaped, loosely flowered below, spreading, the lowest 

 peduncled ; perigynia elliptical, tapering and at length spreading or recurved 

 at the apex, nerveless or nearly so, as long as the oblong black scale ; culms 

 smooth (1 high) ; leaves narrowly linear. Mountain swamps, North Caro- 

 lina, and northward. 



19. C. Stricta, Good. Sterile spikes 1-2; fertile spikes 2-4, linear- 

 cylindrical, sessile or the lowest short-pedunded, erect, dense-flowered ; peri- 

 gynia elliptical, erect, nerveless, commonly shorter than the narrow obtuse 

 reddish In-own scale ; culms (2 high) rough-angled ; leaves linear. Swamps 

 in the upper districts. 



20. C. crinita, Lam. Sterile spikes mostly 2, often with fertile flowers 

 intermixed ; fertile spikes 3-4, long-cylindrical, dense-flowered, on long droop- 

 ing peduncles ; perigynia round-ovate or obovate, somewhat inflated, 2-nerved, 

 abruptly short-pointed, shorter than the long-awned scale; culms rough-angled 

 above (2 - 3 high). Swamps in the upper districts. Spikes H'- 3' long. 



21. C. gynandra, Schw. Perigynium ovate or elliptical, acute, ob- 

 scurely nerved at the base, the upper ones crowded, and as long as the acute 

 scale, the lower ones scattered, and shorter than the awned scales, sheaths 

 scabrous ; otherwise like the last. Damp woods, Florida, and northward. 



2. CAREX proper. Stigmas 3 : nut 3-angied : terminal spikes commonly 



sterile, the others fertile. 



1. Spike solitari/. 

 * Sterile at the summit. 



22. C. polytrichoides, Muhl. Spike linear, few-flowered ; perigynia 

 lanceolate-oblong, many-nerved, obtuse and entire at the apex, twice as long 



