232 



CYPERACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY) 



422. C. aurea. 



slightly if at all staminate at tip ; scales very sharp and spreading, longer than 

 the perigynia. (C. Haydeni Dewey.) Me. to Ky., Ont., and la. 



72. C. aurea Nutt. Low and slender, 0.5-5 dm. high; leaves pale green, 

 narrow (1-3 mm. wide); 2 or 3 of the bracts exceeding the culm ; spikes 3-a, 

 all but the lowest usually approximate, peduncled or the upper one 

 or two sessile, erect, loosely few-flowered or sometimes becoming 

 2 cm. long, at maturity yellow or brown, the terminal one fre- 

 quently pistillate above ; perigynium fleshy at maturity, plump, 

 nerved, about 2 mm. long, rounded or slightly depressed at tip, 

 longer than the blunt white or pale-brown scale. 

 Wet meadows and springy banks, Nfd. to B. C., 

 s. to n. Ct., centr. N. Y., n.w. Pa., Ind., Wise., etc., 

 mostly in calcareous regions. June-July. FIG. 422. 

 73. C. bicolor All. Similar ; spikes mostly 

 crowded, only the lowermost subtended by an 

 elongated bract, the others short-bracted or bract- 

 less, the terminal mostly pistillate ; mature peri- 

 gynia dry and firm, white, pulverulent, tapering to _ , . 

 the short tip; scales dark brown or purplish. Wet ledges and 

 gravelly shores, Lab. to n. Me. ; n. shore L. Superior. June-Aug. (Greenl., 

 Eu.) FIG. 423. 



74. C. pauciflbra Lightf. Very slender but erect, stiff, 

 0.5-6 dm. high ; leaves very narrow, usually much shorter 

 than the culm ; staminate and pistillate flowers 2-5 ; peri- 

 gynia straw-color, subulate, several times longer 



than the inconspicuous scales, at maturity 

 deflexed and easily detached. Cold bogs, Nfd. 

 to Alaska, locally s. to Ct., Pa., Mich., Minn., 

 etc. June, July. (Eu.) FIG. 424. 



75. C. leptalea Wahlenb. Capillary, erect 



424. C. pauciflora. or slightly diffuse, 0.5-5 dm. high ; leaves mostly 425. C. leptalea. 



shorter than the culm ; spike 0.4-1.6 cm. long, 



staminate portion small, the subalternate thin green nervose oblong or narrowly 

 ellipsoid blunt perigynia about twice longer than the broionish mostly obtuse 

 caducous scales. (C. polytrichoides Muhl.) Bogs and wet 

 meadows, Nfd. to B. C., s. to Pa., the Great Lakes. Mo., Col., 

 and Ore. ; and in the mts. to N. C. June-Aug. FIG. 425. 



76. C. Harperi Fernald. Similar, 2.5-7 dm. 

 high ; the more crowded spike with strongly 

 overlapping linear-oblong perigynia and whitish 

 acuminate scales. Bogs and swampy woods, 

 Pa. to Fla. and Tex. May-July. FIG. 426. 



77. C. Frasdri Andrews. Caespitose ; culm 

 2-5 dm. high, naked or the lower portion in- 

 cluded in loosely sheathing leaves, smooth and stiff ; leaves 

 broad, destitute of midrib, closely many-ribbed, very thick and 

 persistent, pale, 1.5-6 dm. long; spike solitary, the pistillate 

 portion globular, the longer staminate tip oblong ; perigynia 



straw-colored, papery, ovoid, faintly nerved, 

 much longer than the whitish scales. Rich 

 mountain woods, Va., W. Va., and south w. ; 

 local. May-July. FIG. 427. 



78. C. Halleri Gunn. Small and slender, 1-6 dm. high ; culm 

 thin and obtuse, smooth or roughish, naked above ; leaves narrow 

 and flat, shorter than the culm ; spiki-s 2-4. aggregated, 4-8 mm. 

 long, sessile or rarely the lowest short-stalked ; prrigynia orbicu- 

 lar to elliptic, nerveless or nearly so, ihe short beak slightly 

 notched, a little longer than the ovate purple-brown obtuse scales. 

 (C.alpina Sw.) Cold wet rocks, e. Que., L. Superior region, 

 428. C. Halleri. Rocky Mts., and far north w. July, Aug. (Eu.) FIG. 428. 



426. C. Harperi. 



4-27. C. Frat-eri x% 



Inflorescence and 



leaf-tip. 



