Carex. CYPERACE.E. 239 



densely punctate and the lower reddish sheaths sparingly fibrous -reticulate : bracts 

 foliaceous, without sheaths, the lowest much exceeding the stem, the next above ex- 

 ceeding its spikelet and sometimes the stem ; auricles ferruginous, oblong : spike 1 

 to 2 inches long, of from 3 to 6 purple and glaucous densely flowered spikelets 3 to 

 9 lines long and 3 lines thick, the uppermost obovoid or clavate, male at least below, 

 the others female, ellipsoidal, sessile and contiguous or the lowest an inch distant on 

 a very short included peduncle ; scales purple, pale in the middle, oblong or ovate, 

 acute, ciliate at top or roughly cuspidate : perigynium triangular-ovoid, ventricose, 

 tapering to a bidentate orifice or short beak, the upper margins serrate and the teeth 

 hispid, sessile, nerved, not granular, longer and broader than the scale : nutlet tri- 

 angular-obovoid, produced at base, much shorter than the perigynium, punctate, 

 chestnut-colored. 



In the Coast Ranges ; Salinas Valley, in rather dry soil (Brewer, n. 574) ; Pacheco Pass, Santa 

 Clara County (Bolamier, n. 4837) and Red Mountain, Humboldt County, Bolandcr, u. 6476. 

 Differing from the last in the longer bracts, the serrate margins of the perigynium, the longer 

 hispid teeth, and the shorter scales. Dr. Boott in a letter of 24th April, 1863, named the Sali- 

 nas plant G. bifida, but gave no character. 



36. C. atrata, Linn. Cespitose : stem J to 2 feet high, often cernuous at top : 

 leaves l^ to 4 lines broad, shorter than the stem : bracts without sheaths, the lowest 

 about equalling the stem ; auricles purple, often connate : spike J to 1 1 inches long 

 and 4 to 8 lines thick, of 3 to 6 ellipsoidal or oblong-cylindrical spikelets 6 to 18 lines 

 long, contiguous, sessile and erect or peduncled and drooping, the lowest rarely sub- 

 radical, the uppermost male at base or rarely entirely so, the rest female or very 

 sparingly male at bottom ; scales dark or reddish purple, ovate and obtuse or acute, 

 or the upper lanceolate and acuminate or cuspidate : perigynium membranous, yel- 

 lowish or more or less ferruginous, elliptical, round-oval, or obovate, compressed 

 above, triangular below, abruptly or gradually rostellate with an emarginate or 

 bidentate purple orifice, smooth, granular, nerveless, broader and longer or shorter 

 than the scale : nutlet olive-colored, triangular-ellipsoidal, attenuate at base, much 

 shorter than the loosely investing perigyriium. Reichenb. 1. c., t. 236 (C. aierrima, 

 Hoppe), 237; Boott, 111. iii. 114, t. 362-365. 



Var. nigra, Boott. Spikelets roundish, capitate : scales obtuse or abruptly apicu- 

 late with the nerve projecting : perigynium often scabrous. 111. t. 363. C. nigra, 

 All. ; Reichenb. 1. c., t. 236. 



Var. erecta. Stem \\ to 3| feet high, sharply angled, smooth or scabrous 

 above : leaves flat, 1 to 2| lines broad, the sheaths purple : lowest bract foliaceous, 

 about equalling the stem, the rest scale-like and cuspidate, shorter than their spike- 

 lets : spike purple, oblong, 1 to 3 inches long, of 3 to 6 erect spikelets \ to 1 inch 

 long and 1 to 3 lines thick, the uppermost clavate (rarely wholly male and cylindri- 

 cal), the others oblong, crowded, sessile, or the lowest 1 1 inches distant, or less, and 

 peduncled; peduncle not exceeding 1J inches in length; scales purple with pale 

 midnerve, ovate or lanceolate, cuspidate : perigynium membranous, more or less pur- 

 ple or ferruginous with pale margins, obovoid, compressed-triangular, abruptly end- 

 ing in a very short cylindrical sharply bidenticulate beak, granular and nerveless or 

 obscurely nerved : nutlet chestnut-colored, stipitate, much shorter than the peri- 

 gynium. 



In the Sierra Nevada, not rare, from 5,000 feet (Big Trees, Bolander) to 10,000 or 12,000 feet 

 altitude, botli the typical form and the varieties. The species is a very variable one and widely 

 distributed, ranging in America from Greenland and the Arctic Ocean to the White Mountains, 

 Colorado and Utah, Northern Nevada and California, and also frequent in the alpine regions of 

 Europe and Asia. The stamens, according to Goodenough, are sometimes only 2 ; stigmas 3 or 2. 

 An empty short-sheathed bract is often found an inch or two below the spikes. 



37. C. heteroneura. Stem 2 feet high, slender, sharply angled, smooth : leaves 

 1| or 2 lines broad, flat, shorter than the stem : bracts clasping, the lower two foli- 

 aceous, about equalling the stem ; auricles small and scarious, pale : spikelets 4 or 5 ; 



