WOODS AND COPSES 



75 



than the stems, limp, flat. The bracts are short 

 or none. The spike is slender. The spikelets are 

 numerous, the upper close, oblong-, erect or spread- 

 ing, those below loose, not distant. The glumes 

 are egg-shaped, dark-brown, with green keel 

 with white edges. The fruit is pale, stalkless, 

 ribbed, spreading, longer than the glumes, blunt, 

 with a long- point. The beak is nearly entire, 

 with rough edges. The nut is linear to oblong. 

 The style does not fall. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, 

 flowering from June to August, and is a herba- 

 ceous perennial. 



Pale Sedge (Carex pallescens, L.). The habitat 

 of this plant is woods, shady places, marshy 

 copses, and meadows. The habit is sedge-like. 

 The stem is slender, leafy, 3-angled, rough above, 

 wiry. The leaves are erect, softly sparsely hairy, 

 flat, green. The spikes are blunt, pale -green. 

 The small spikelet is erect, yellowish-red, the 

 female rather nodding, close, 2-3, oblong, egg- 

 shaped, shortly-stalked. The glumes are blunt- 

 pointed, few, pale-brown, with white borders and 

 a green midrib. The fruit is hairless, egg-shaped, 

 oblong, blunt, convex both sides, veined. There 

 is no beak. The nut is inversely egg-shaped, 

 linear to elliptic, 3-angled. The plant is 9-18 in. 

 in height, flowering from June to August, and is 

 a herbaceous perennial. 



Great Pendulous Sedge (Carex pendula, Huds.). 

 The habitat of this plant is damp woods. The 

 habit is sedge-like. The stem is tall and leafy, 

 3-angled or rounded, smooth or rough. The leaves 

 are broad, pale-green, flat. The bracts are leaf- 

 like, sheathed below, nearly as long as the flower- 

 stalks. The fertile spike is long, drooping (hence 

 pendula), nearly stalkless, curved, blunt, cylin- 

 drical, dense, the stalks enclosed by the bracts, 

 the upper with male flowers above. The male are 

 inclined, sometimes with male and female flowers, 

 or female below only. The glumes are spreading, 

 blunt, or divided nearly to the base, pale-brown, 

 with a hairy awn, green midrib, pale ragged 

 border. The fruit is hairless, swollen, overlap- 

 ping, with a short, notched, 3-angled beak. The 

 nut is short, broad, pale. The plant is 3-6 ft. 

 high, flowering in May, and is a herbaceous per- 

 ennial. 



Fingered Sedge (Carex digit ata, L.). The 

 habitat of this species is copses on limestone. 

 The habit is sedge-like. The stems are smooth, 

 slender, erect or curved, sheathed below, bluntly 

 3-angled. The radical leaves are bent back, with 

 a rolled-back margin, flat, soft, linear. The bracts 

 are blunt, the lower awl-like, membranous, brown, 

 green-tipped. The fertile spikelets are 2-3, with 

 6-8 flowers, loose, distant, erect, linear. The 

 males are solitary. The fruit is inversely egg- 

 shaped, hairy, 3-angled, narrow below, as long 

 as the glume, with a short, straight, nearly entire 

 beak. The nut is stalked, brown, 3-angled, with 

 a short beak. The plant is 6-10 in. high, flower- 

 ing in April and May, and is a herbaceous per- 

 ennial. 



Hammer Sedge (Carex hirta, L.). The habitat 

 of this plant is damp copses, wet places, grassy 



places. The habit is sedge -like. The stem is 

 slender, hairless, leafy, shining, 3-angled. The 

 leaves are long, flat, hairy, with split sheaths, 

 rarely hairless. The sheaths are long. The lower 

 bracts are sheaths. The male spikes are close, 

 2-3, pale, glistening. The fertile spikes are dis- 

 tant, green, cylindrical, oblong, stalked. The 

 glumes are small, broad, with membranous margin 

 and a green midrib, the awn rigid, rough, spread- 

 ing. The fruit is tawny, egg-shaped to oblong, 

 narrowed into a short beak, deeply divided nearly 

 to the base. There are 3 stigmas. The nut is 

 inversely egg-shaped. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, 

 flowering in May and June, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Tall Wood Sedge (Carex la-vigata, Sm. = C. 

 helodes, Link.). The habitat of this plant is wet 

 thickets and copses, and marshes. The habit is 

 sedge-like. The stem is tall, smooth. The leaves 

 are broad, short, dotted beneath. The bracts are 

 sheathing, auricled opposite the blade. The 

 male spikelets are 3-angled, 2, with blunt, short- 

 pointed glumes. The fertile spikelets are droop- 

 ing, cylindrical, distant, with exserted stalks. 

 The glumes are acute, purple, with a pale dorsal, 

 longitudinal band. The fruit is green, egg-shaped, 

 narrowed, finely furrowed. The beak is slender, 

 long, with rough edges. The ligule is long. The 

 nut is stalked, 3-angled, pale, dotted, narrowed 

 below, rather pear-shaped. The plant is 2-3 ft. 

 high, flowering in June, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Few-seeded Sedge (Carex depauperata, Good. 

 = C. ventricosa, Curt.). The habitat of this 

 species is dry woods. The habit is sedge-like. 

 The stem is slender, smooth, leafy, 3-angled. 

 The leaves are long and flat. The bracts are flat, 

 rough, leaflike, the sheaths long. The spikelets 

 are erect, short, distant, 3-4-flowered, the males 

 with a blunt, pale glume, very slender, with many 

 flowers. The fertile spikes are erect, distant, 

 3-4-flowered, on exserted stalks. The fruit is 

 large, rounded, with a long slender beak, divided 

 into 2 nearly to the base, with rough edges, ribbed. 

 The nut is elliptic, 3-angled, the angles blunt. 

 The plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering in May and 

 June, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Common Wood Sedge (Carex sylva/ica, Huds.). 

 The habitat of this species is damp woods. The 

 habit is sedge-like. The plant is slender, with a 

 3-sided, smooth stem, rough at the top. The 

 leaves are flat, membranous, bright-green, nar- 

 row. The bracts are leaflike with long sheaths, 

 not half as long as the flower-stalks. The male 

 spikelets are pale. The female are thread-like, 

 branched below, the stalk half projecting. The 

 glumes are loose or scattered, acute, egg-shaped, 

 green, keeled. The fruit is elliptic, nearly stalk- 

 less, obscurely veined, with a long, slender, smooth 

 beak, which is divided into 2 nearly to the base. 

 The nut is broad, 3-sided. The plant is 2 ft. in 

 height, flowering in May and June, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Loose Sedge (Carex strigosa, Huds.). The 

 habitat of this plant is woods, groves, thickets, 



