Carex. CYPERACE^E. 247 



one or two of the upper exceeding the stem : spikes 3 or 4, rather loosely few-flow- 

 ered, the one male linear-oblong, 3 to 5 lines long, erect or oblique, the female 

 oblong, 2 to 4 lines long, the upper contiguous to the male and short-peduncled, the 

 lowest remote or subradical on a peduncle an inch long or less ; scales purple on the 

 side, pale in the middle, 1 3-nerved, obtuse, acute or more or less roughly cuspi- 

 date, the male oblong, the female broadly ovate, clasping at base : perigynium cori- 

 aceous, hispid, triangular-subglobose, much attenuate at base, eonically beaked, the 

 beak straight or bent with a minutely bidentate orih'ce, obscurely striate on the lower 

 half, longer or shorter than the scale : nutlet triangular-ovoid. 

 In the Sierra Nevada ; Lake Tahoe to Bear Valley, Kellogg. 



60. C. hirtissima. Stem 15 to 18 inches high, obtusely angled, smooth : 

 leaves pale, flat, the cauline 1 to li lines broad, somewhat 3-nerved, about half 

 the length of the stem, hairy beneath, ciliate on the margins ; sterile leaves 9 

 inches long and 4 to 6 lines broad : bracts foliaceous, exceeding the spikes, the lower 

 with hairy sheaths 1 to 3 inches long : spikes 2 to 4, the male oblong or clavate, \ 

 to \\ inches long, commonly female at top and rarely at bottom ; female 2, rarely 3, 

 cylindrical, f to 1 \ inches long, rather loosely flowered, the upper close to the male 

 and subsessile, the rest remote, on erect peduncles 2^ to 4| inches long ; scales mem- 

 branous, very pale ferruginous with broad hyaline margins, obovate or orbicular, 

 obtuse, ciliate on the margins, the lower abruptly hispid-awned, the upper and the 

 male mucronate : perigynium olive-color, hirsute with stiff white hairs, triangular, 

 ellipsoidal or obovoid, acute at base, abruptly ending in a stout cylindrical minutely 

 bidentate beak, the lower shorter than the scale, the upper about equalling it : nutlet 

 olive-colored, obovoid, stipitate, punctate. 



In the Sierra Nevada, Kellogg. 



61. C. triquetra, Boott. Stem 5 to 18 inches high, slightly scabrous: leaves 

 pale, 1 to 2 lines broad, equalling or shorter than the stem : lower bracts sheathed, 

 equalling the stem, or the lowest remote and shorter : spikes 3 to 5, oblong, the male 

 9 lines long and 1 thick, subsessile, the female 6 to 9 lines long and \\ or 2 lines 

 thick, erect, the upper approximate, the lower on enclosed peduncles or the lowest 

 remote on a long-exserted peduncle, all with abortive flowers at top and the lowest 

 also at bottom ; scales pale chestnut, ovate, mucronate, acute or obtuse, with hyaline 

 margins : perigynium pale, covered with long white hairs, ellipsoidal, sharply trian- 

 gular, acute at each end, with a very short bidentate beak, 1 - 4-nerved on one or 

 more of the sides, longer and broader than the scale : nutlet dark chestnut, con- 

 formed to and filling the perigynium. Linn. Trans, xx. 126, and 111. iv. 219, 

 t. 417. C. monticola, Dewey, 1. c. xxxi. 26, and Bot. Mex. Bound. 229. 



Mountains east of San Diego (Parry) ; Matilija canon, near Ojai (PeckJiam); first collected by 

 Nuttall, probably near Santa Barbara. 



- H- Beak of perigynium more or less elongated. 

 H- Beak emarginate or obliquely truncate. 



62. C. polymorpha, Muhl. Rootstock creeping : whole plant densely granu- 

 lar : stem 1 to 1^ feet high, sharply angled, smooth, clothed at base with lanceolate 

 purple leafless sheaths : leaves rigid, 1 or 2 lines broad, with revolute margins, much 

 shorter than the stem ; lower sheaths fibrous-reticulate : bracts of the female spikes 

 sheathed, exceeding their spikes but shorter than the stem ; sheaths 3 to 12 lines 

 long : spikes 2 to 4, cylindrical, purple, the male 1 or 2, rarely 3, 6 to 15 lines long 

 and 1 or 2 thick, the uppermost the largest, and the lowest subtended by a clasping 

 bract equalling or exceeding the stem ; female spikes 10 to 16 lines long and 2 to 4 

 thick, the upper sometimes male at top, loosely flowered at base, the lowest often 

 remote on a short subradical peduncle, rarely compound ; scales purple with hyaline 

 margins, the male obovate-oblong, obtuse, the female broadly ovate, obtuse or rarely 



