CYPEKACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY) 



231 



420 c torta 



68. C. t6rta Boott. Slender but erect, 2-9 dm. high, in clumps, with exceed- 

 ingly tough and cord-like roots ; culm rather sharp, smooth or roughish above ; 

 leaves flat and rather soft, those of the culm very short (2-5 mm. 

 wide); pistillate spikes 2-6 (rarely compound), mostly somewhat 

 approximate or the lower remote, the upper sessile and ascending, 

 but the others often spreading or drooping, long and slender (1.5-9 

 cm. long, 3-6 mm. thick) ; staminate spike 1 (rarely 2)-peduncled, 

 1.5-4 cm. long, occasionally with some pistillate flowers ; peri- 

 ium lance-ovate, green, the slim upper half empty and more or 

 less tortuous, the beak entire or erose ; scale 

 purple-mar gined and very obtuse, shorter than 

 the perigynium. By streams, rarely in swamps, 

 e. Que. to Minn., s. to N. C. and Mo. May-July. 

 FIG. 420. 



69. C. lenticularis Michx. Rather slender 

 but erect, pale throughout, 1-6 dm. high ; culm 

 sharp, usually slightly rough above ; leaves very 

 narrow (1-3 mm. wide), numerous, much sur- 

 passing the culm ; spikes 3-8, more or less aggre- 

 gated or the lowest remote, the terminal andro- 

 gynous or staminate, mostly sessile, erect, 1-4.5 

 cm. long, 2.5-4 mm. thick ; perigynia ovate, 

 minutely granular, brown-nerved, the tip empty 

 and entire ; scales obtuse, about \ the length of 

 the perigynia. Gravelly or sandy shores, Lab. 

 to the Mackenzie, s. to Mass., N. Y., Mich., 

 Minn., etc. June-Sept. FIG. 421. 



70. C. Goodendwii J. Gay. Loose or slightly caespitose, 

 0.5-9 dm. high; culm sharp, smooth or rather rough above; 

 leaves narrow (1-3 mm. wide) and stiff, shorter than the culm, 

 glaucous-blue, the margins involute in drying ; pistillate spikes 

 1-4, all sessile or rarely the lowest very short-stalked, short 



421. c. lenticularis. and erect (0.8-4.5 cm. long, 4-6 mm. thick), very densely 

 flowered or sometimes becoming loose below, the lowest usually 

 subtended by a bract 2-10 cm. long ; perigynia appressed, oval or round-ovate, 

 mostly fine-striate toward the base, the beak entire or very nearly so, bright 

 green becoming tawny; scale ovate and very obtuse, conspicuously narrower and 

 shorter than the perigynia. ( C. vulgaris Fries. ) Across the continent northw. , 

 extending s. in swales and open places, chiefly along the seaboard, to Mass, and 

 e. Pa. May-Sept. (Eurasia.) 



71. C. stricta Lam. Tall and slender but erect, 0.5-1.3 m. high, generally 

 in dense clumps when old, or rarely in small tufts; culm sharp, rough above; 

 leaves long and narrow (2-4 mm. wide), rough on the edges, the lowest sheaths 

 usually becoming prominently fibrillose ; 1 or 2 lowest bracts leafy and equaling 

 the culm ; pistillate spikes 2-6, scattered, the lowest often more or less pedun- 

 cled and clavate and the others sessile, erect or ascending, oblong or cylindric, 

 2-7 cm. long, 3-6 mm. thick, compactly flowered above but often attenuate at 

 base, the upper often staminate at top, all greenish-purple or pallid ; perigynia 

 becoming tawny, mostly lightly few-nerved and somewhat granular, the beak 

 very short and commonly entire ; scale brown, with a pale middle, nearly or 

 quite equaling the perigynia. Swales, throughout; abundant and variable. 

 May-Aug. Hybridizes with C. filiformis and C. salina, var. cuspidata. 



Var. curtissima Peck. Scales of the very short (0.5-1.5 cm. long) pistillate 

 spikes much shorter than the perigynia. N. B. to Ct. and N. Y., rare. 



Var. angustata (Boott) Bailey. Spikes longer and narrower (3-11 cm. long, 

 2-4 mm. thick), more approximate and mostly attenuate at base, usually with 

 long staminate tips ; scales narrower, mostly longer than the perigynia. (In- 

 cluding var. xerocarpa Britton.) Same range as the type, but less common. 



Var. dec&ra Bailey. Usually smaller ; basal sheaths less fibrillose : spikes 

 1-4 cm. long, 4-7 mm. thick, sessile or very nearly so, rarely attenuate at base, 





