GENUS 18. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



365 



14. Carex rosea Schk. Stellate Sedge. Fig. 881 



Carex rosea Schk. ; Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 237. 1805. 



Carex rosea var. radiata Dewey. Am. journ. Sci. 10 : 276. /"\ 



1826. 

 Carc.r rosea var. minor Boott, 111. Car. 2: 81. 1860. 



Rather bright green, culms very slender or filiform, 

 erect or reclining, rough above, i-2i long. Leaves 

 flat, soft, spreading, i"-ii" wide, shorter than the culm; 

 lower bract filiform or bristle-like, '-4' long; spikes 

 2-8, androgynous, subglobose, iJ"-4" in diameter, 2-15- 

 flowered, the 2 to 4 upper close together, the others 

 distant; perigynia narrowly to broadly ovoid-lanceolate, 

 flat, bright green, stellately diverging or sometimes 

 ascending, somewhat spongy at base and with a slightly 

 raised margin, nerveless or nearly so, shining, i"-2 ' 

 long, rather more than \" wide, tapering or contracted 

 into a stout, rough, 2-toothed beak about one-fourth the 

 length of the body ; scales ovate-oblong to ovate- 

 orbicular, obtuse or acutish, persistent, white-hyaline, 

 half as long as the perigynia; stigmas 2. 



In woods and thickets, Newfoundland to Manitoba, south 

 to Georgia, Nebraska and Arkansas. Ascends to 2500 ft. 

 in Virginia. May-July. 



15. Carex muricata L. Lesser Prickly Sedge. 

 Fig. 882. 



Carex muricata L. Sp. PI. 974 (in part). 1753. 



Carex contigua Hoppe ; Sturm, Deutschl. Fl. Heft 61. 



1835- 



Bright green, culms slender, erect, roughish above, 

 i-2i tall, not wing-angled. Leaves i"-ii" wide, 

 shorter than the culm, not conspicuously septate-nodu- 

 lose ; sheaths tight, not transversely rugulose ; bracts 

 short ; spikes 5-10, 4-io-flowered, all clustered into 

 an oblong head 7i"-2o" long, or the lower I or 2 

 little distant ; perigynia ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 dull green, 2"~3" long, i" wide, smooth, shining, 

 nerveless, ascending when young, spreading when 

 mature, tapering into a rough-edged 2-toothed beak 

 as long as the body ; scales ovate or ovate-oblong, 

 green or brownish, usually reddish-purple tinged, 

 acute, somewhat snorter than the perigynia ; stig- 

 mas 2. 



In meadows and fields, southern Maine to Ohio and 

 Virginia. Locally naturalized from Europe. Called also 

 Greater prickly sedge. June-Aug. 



Carex echinata Murr. a closely related European species, but with an elongated interrupted 

 head, has been found in Kent County, New Brunswick, as a waif. 



1 6. Carex Muhlenbergii Schk. Muhlenberg's 

 Sedge. Fig. 883. 



Carex Muhlenbergii Schk.; Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 231. 1805. 

 Carex Muhlenbergii var. enervis Boott, 111. 124. 1862. 



Light green, culms slender but stiff and erect, sharply 

 3-angled. rough above, i-3 tall. Leaves i"-2i" wide, 

 usually shorter than the culm, somewhat involute in 

 drying; bracts bristle-form, not conspicuously enlarged 

 at base, usually short ; spikes 4-10, androgynous, ovoid 

 or subglobose, distinct, the lower separate, but close 

 together in an oblong head ii"-i8" long; perigynia 

 spreading, broadly ovate-oval, \\" long, i" wide, from 

 strongly nerved on both faces to nearly or quite nerve- 

 less, contracted into a 2-toothed beak nearly half length 

 of body; scales hyaline with a green midvein, ovate- 

 lanceolate, rough-cuspidate or short-awned, narrower 

 than and about length of perigynia ; stigmas 2. 



In dry fields and on hills. Maine to Ontario and Minne- 

 sota, south to Florida and Texas. May-July. 



