CYPEKACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY) 



231 



420. C. tort*. 



88. C. t6rta Boott. Slender but erect, 2-9 dm. high, in clumps, with exceed- 

 ingly tough and cord-like roots ; culm rather sharp, smooth or roughish above ; 

 leaves flat and rather soft, those of the culm very short (2-5 mm. 

 wide); pistillate spikes 2-6 (rarely compound), mostly somewhat 

 approximate or the lower remote, the upper sessile and ascending, 

 but the others often spreading or drooping, long and slender (1.5-9 

 cm. long, 3-6 mm. thick) ; staminate spike 1 (rarely 2)-peduncled, 

 1.5-4 cm. long, occasionally with some pistillate flowers ; peri- 

 gynium lance-ovate, green, the slim upper half empty and more or 

 less tortuous, the beak entire or erose ; scale 

 purple-margined and very obtuse, shorter than 

 the perigynium. By streams, rarely in swamps, 

 e. Que. to Minn. , s. to N. C. and Mo. May-July. 

 FIG. 420. 



69. C. lenticularis Michx. Rather slender 

 but erect, pale throughout, 1-6 dm. high ; culm 

 sharp, usually slightly rough above ; leaves very 

 narrow (1-3 mm. wide), numerous, much sur- 

 passing the culm ; spikes 3-8, more or less aggre- 

 gated or the lowest remote, the terminal andro- 

 gynous or staminate, mostly sessile, erect, 1-4.6 

 cm. long, 2.5-4 mm. thick ; perigynia ovate, 

 minutely granular, brown-nerved, the tip empty 

 and entire ; scales obtuse, about J the length of 

 the perigynia. Gravelly or sandy shores, Lab. 

 to the Mackenzie, s. to Mass., N. Y., Mich., 

 Minn., etc. June-Sept. FIG. 421. 



70. C. Gooden6wii J. Gay. Loose or slightly caespitose, 

 0.5-9 dm. high; culm sharp, smooth or rather rough above; 

 leaves narrow (1-3 mm. wide) and stiff, shorter than the culm, 

 glaucous-blue, the margins involute in drying ; pistillate spikes 

 1-4, all sessile or rarely the lowest very short-stalked, short 



421. ('.lenticularis. and erect (0.8-4.5 cm. long. 4-6 mm. thick), very densely 

 flowered or sometimes becoming loose below, the lowest usually 

 subtended by a bract 2-10 cm. long ; perigynia oppressed, oval or round-ovate, 

 mostly fine-striate toward the base, the beak entire or very nearly so, bright 

 green becoming tawny; scale ovate and very obtuse, conspicuously narrower and 

 shorter than the perigynia. (C. vulgaris Fries.) Across the continent north w., 

 extending s. in swales and open places, chiefly along the seaboard, to Mass, and 

 e. Pa. May-Sept. (Eurasia.) 



71. C. stricta Lam. Tall and slender but erect, 0.5-1.3 m. high, generally 

 in dense clumps when old, or rarely in small tufts ; culm sharp, rough above ; 

 leaves long and narrow (2-4 mm. wide), rough on the edges, the lowest sheaths 

 usually becoming prominently fibrillose ; 1 or 2 lowest bracts leafy and equaling 

 the culm ; pistillate spikes 2-6, scattered, the lowest often more or less pedun- 

 cled and clavate and the others sessile, erect or ascending, oblong or cylindric, 

 2-7 cm. long, 3-6 mm. thick, compactly flowered above but often attenuate at 

 base, the upper often staminate at top, all greenish-purple or pallid ; perigynia 

 becoming tawny, mostly lightly few-nerved and somewhat granular, the beak 

 very short and commonly entire ; scale brown, with a pale middle, nearly or 

 quite equaling the perigynia. Swales, throughout ; abundant and variable. 

 May- Aug. Hybridizes with C. Jlliformis and C. salina, var. cuapidata. 



Var. curtissima Peck. Scales of the very short (0.5-1.6 cm. long) pistillate 

 spikes much shorter than the perigynia. N. B. to Ct. and N. Y., rare. 



Var. angustata (Boott) Bailey. Spikes longer and narrower (3-11 cm. long 

 2-4 mm. thick), more approximate and mostly attenuate at base, usually with 

 long staminate tips ; scales narrower, mostly longer than the perigynia. (In 

 eluding var. rerocarpa Britton.) Same range as the type, but less common. 



Var. decbra Bailey. Usually smaller ; basal sheaths less fibrillose ; spikes 

 1-4 cm. long, 4-7 mm. thick, sessile or very nearly so, rarely attenuate at base, 



