612 CYPERACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 



= = Staminate spike very prominent {or in the variety of n. 89 very small, but 



the leaves broad) ; radical spikes none. 



a. Scales smooth. 



87. C. NoVSe-Angliae, Schwein. Very slender and soft, erect, stolon- 

 iferous, 6-8' high ; culnis little longer than the very narrow leaves ; stami- 

 nate spike exceedingly narrow (3-8" long by about ^" wide), mostly minutely 

 peduncled ; pistillate spikes 2, or rarely 3, the upper one near the base of the 

 staminate spike, the lower very short-peduncled and removed i-T and sub- 

 tended by a leaf V bract which nearly or quite equals the culm, both rather 

 loosely 3 - 6-flowered ; perigynium very narrow, often nearly oblanceolate, 

 small, very thinly hairy, the beak sharp and prominent ; stigmas often 2. — 

 Mountain swamps of W. Mass., and Mt. Desert, Maine {Rand} ; rare. 



88. C. Pennsylvanica, Lam. A foot high or less, erect, strongly sto- 

 loniferous, forming large patches ; leaves narrow and more or less involute, dark 

 or dull green, mostly nearly as long as the culm ; staminate spike ^' (rarely f ') 

 long, usually dull brown or brown-purple, sessile or very nearly so ; pistillate 

 spikes 1-3, contiguous or the two lower rarely Y apart, all sessile and usually 

 dark-colored, the lowest bract very short or at least rarely prominent ; peri- 

 gynium short- or round-ovate, hairy. — Dry fields ; our commonest species. 



89. C. communis, Bailey. Habitually taller and stricter, 8- 18' high, 

 in small tufts, never stolon i ferous ; leaves proportionately shorter, broad 

 (about 2"), flat and pale; staminate spike mostly longer, often short-peduncled 

 and usually paler ; pistillate spikes 2-4, scattered on the upper part of the 

 culm, green or tawny, the lowest one or two sometimes peduncled and often 

 with prominent leafy bracts. (C. varia, last ed.) — Dry hill-sides; common. 



Var. Wheeleri, Bailey. Mostly greener, 3-14' high; leaves soft and 

 flat and much shorter than the culm ; staminate spike |' long or less, very 

 narrow, sessile and oblique ; pistillate spikes mostly closer together. — KnoUs 

 in woods, Ionia Co., Mich. ( Wheeler), and Alcona Co. (Bailei/) ; Middletown, 

 Conn. {Barratt), and Cheshire Co., N. H. It has much the aspect of n. 86, but 

 is readily distinguished by the broad leaves and more scattered spikes. 



b. Scales rough-cuspidate. 



C. PR.fecox, Jacq. Rather stiff, the culm sometimes curved, 3-10' high; 

 leaves flat, shorter than the culm ; staminate spike prominently clavate, mostly 

 sessile; pistillate spikes 2-3, all contiguous, sessile or the lowest very short- 

 peduncled and subtended by a bract scarcely as long as itself, all oblong or 

 sliort-cylindric, the lowest about 6" long; perigynium triangular-obovoid, the 

 very short beak entire or erose, thinly hispid-hirsute, about the length of the 

 scale. — Fields, E. Mass. (Nat. from Eu. early in the century.) 



•^ ++ Part or usuaUij all of the culms much shorter than the leaves. 



90. C. umbellata, Schkuhr. (PI. 6, fig. 1 1 - U.) Low, growing in small 

 and dense mats (1-3' across) ; leaves short and often stiff (2 - 6' long), flat, the 

 earliest very narrow but the later often 2" broad ; spikes all on separate scapes 

 which rarely exceed 1 -2' in length (or rarely one or two short true culms), 

 usually densely aggregated at the surface of the ground and hidden by the 

 leaves, the pistillate spikes green or tawny and rather loosely few-flowered ; 

 perigynium slenderly beaked, toothed, very lightly pubescent, about the length 

 of the acute and often rough-tipped scale. — Dry banks and knolls, N. Eng. 



