CTPERACE.E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 533 



* # Spiken 4 - 7 ; the terminal one entirely staminate, small and linear, or with 

 some fertile flowers at the apex : the rest all pistillate : bracts very long, 

 sheathing. 



122. C. teiale|&is, Torr. Fertile spikes cylindrical, obtuse, the upper 

 approximated, nearly sessile on the zigzag stem, the lower remote on exsertcd 

 stalks, all erect, very densely flowered ; pcrigynia shorter than the long awn-like 

 scales. (C. Frankii, Kunth. C. Shortii, Steud., not of Torr.) Marshes, W. 

 Penn. ? and Virginia to Illinoi^, and southwcstward. Somewhat resembling 

 the last ; but the spikes are narrower and more numerous, and of a still more 

 bristly appearance from the projecting points of the scales : occasionally all are 

 fertile, the uppermost having no staminate flowers. 



$ 14. Perigynia much inflated, nerved (nerveless in No. 132), smooth and shining t 

 becoming straiv-colored at maturity, icith a tapering more or less elongated 2-toothed 

 beak: bracts leaf-like, with very short or obsolete sheaths (conspicuously 

 sheathing in No. 123), much exceeding the culm (except in No. 132) : scales 

 brown or tawny : staminate spikes 2-5 rarely 1, stalked. VESICARI^E. 



123. C. ret rorsa, Sch w. Sterile spikes 1 - 3, the uppermost occasionally 

 with a few fertile flower?, the rest more or less pistillate at the base ; fertile spikes 

 4 5, oblong-cylindrical, erect, the upper approximate and clustered on short or in- 

 cluded stalks, the lowest remote on a long exserted stalk, and (with one or more of 

 the others) often bearing 1-2 short branches at the base; perigynia crowded, 

 spreading and at length rejlexed, strongly (few-) nerved, tapering from an ovoid 

 contracted base into a conspicuously toothed leak much longer than the lanceolate 

 scale. (C. reversa, Spreng.) Marshy borders of streams, New England to 

 Pcnn., Wisconsin, and northwestward. Culm nearly smooth : leaves and 

 bracts 3" -4" wide, much exceeding the spikes, which are I'-l^' long. 



124. C. gigl&llteel, Rudge. Sterile spikes several (3-5); pcrigynia hori- 

 zontally spreading and less tumid than in No. 120 : otherwise very like it, but a 

 still larger plant. Swamps, along rivers, from the Ohio (near Louisville, Ken- 

 tucky, Short) southward. 



125. C. Sell weinitzii, Dew. Sterile spikes commonly 2, the lower 

 often pistillate at the base ; fertile spikes 3-4, cylindrical, somewhat drooping, 

 densely flowered, often staminate at the apex, and occasionally the lower rather 

 compound at the base, on smooth nearly included stalks ; perigynia erect, oblong- 

 ovoid, few-nerved, tapering into a long and smooth short-toothed beak, a little longer 

 than the lanceolate long-awned scale. Wet swamps, New England, New Jersey, 

 W. New York, and northward; not common. Culm 10' -15' high, smooth: 

 bracts and leaves 2" -3" wide, smooth except the margins, much exceeding 

 the culm : fertile spikes (!' to 2^' long, rather narrow) and the whole plant 

 turning straw-color. 



126. C. VCSlef&ria,, L. Sterile spikes 2-3; fertile spikes mostly 2, rarely 

 3 or solitary, oblong or cylindrical, stout, approximate, the upper sessile, the lower 

 on a short rough stalk; perigynia oblong-ovoid, 17 -nerved at base, 10-nervcd above, 

 with a short tapering beak longer and broader than the pointed or long-tapering 

 awnless scale ; culm sharply angled and rough ; leaves and bracts green, equal- 

 ling or rather louger than the culm. N. New England? and northward. 



45* 



