(YI'EKACEAE (SEIHiE FAMILY) 



482. C. laxitlora. 



483. C. lax., 

 v. gracillima. 



trigonous-ovoid, twice longer than the very thin obtuse scales. 



Low woods, Mass, to Fla. and La., local. June, July. 

 FIG. 481. 



127. C. laxiflbra Lam. Slender but mostly erect, 2-5.7 

 dm. high ; basal leaves 2.5-7 mm. wide, rather soft ; lami- 

 nate spike peduncled or at least conspicuous; 

 pistillate spikes 2-4, scattered, peduncled or 

 the upper one sessile, 

 loosely flowered, cylin- 

 dric, 1.5-3 cm. long, 

 erect or the lower loosely 

 spreading ; perigynia 

 obovoid, conspicuously 

 nerved, the short entire 

 beak much bent or re- 

 curved; scales thin and 

 white,blunt or cuspidate, 

 mostly shorter than the 

 perigynia. Rich woods 

 and meadows, e. Que. 

 to w. Ont., and southw. 

 May-July. FIG. 482. 



Exceedingly variable, 



passing by many transi- 

 481. C. ptychocarpa. iong to tfae following . 



Var. gracillima Boott. Similar ; but with short (0.5-1.3 cm. long) oblong 

 closer-flowered spikes. Vt. to Ont., and southw. FIG. 483. 



Var. patulifblia (Dewey) Carey. Leaves 

 0.6-2 cm. broad ; staminate spike prominent, 

 mostly stalked ; pistillate spikes long (2-4.5 

 cm.) and alternately flowered, scattered and 

 peduncled ; perigynia 2.5-4 mm. long, ellipsoid, 

 attenuate at both ends, mostly less prominently 

 nerved, and the beak not strongly recurnd. 

 Me. to Va., O., Mich., and Ont. FIG. 484. 



Var. Michaiixii Bailey. Tall and compara- 

 tively stout, 4-0 dm. high ; leaves 0.7-1.2 cm. 

 broad ; staminate spike large and stalked ; pis- 

 tillate spikes scattered, all but the upper one 

 prominently peduncled, 1.2-3 cm. 

 long ; perigynia very large, 4-5 

 mm. long, divaricate. (Var. divari- 

 cata Bailey. ) Pa. to Ala. and 

 Tex. FIG. 485. 



Var. styloftexa (Buckley) Boott. 

 Very weak and slender, 3-9 dm. 

 high ; leaves 3-6 mm. wide ; stam- 

 inate spike usually peduncled ; 

 pistillate 2-3, scattered, few-flow- 

 ered, 0.5-2 cm. long, lowest droop- 

 ing ; perigynia oblong-fusiform, 



1-5 mm. long, very long-pointed; scales often brown-tinged. (C. 

 stylnflexa Buckley.) Ct. to Fla. and Tex. FIG. 486. 



Var. varians Bailey. Culms often ancipital, 2.5-5 dm. high ; 4S( . ( , hx 

 leaves 0.3-1.2 cm. broad ; pistillate spikes 1-3 cm. long, linear- " v ! stvl ' 

 ojlindric to narrow-<>l>lun<j, the two upper more or less contiguous 

 to the staminate spike and sessile or nearly so ; bracts leafy and prolonged. 

 Me. to Ont., la., and southw. 



Var. blanda (Dewey) Boott. Leaves 0.5-1.4 cm. broad ; culms soft, <n-i/>i- 

 ttii. 1 .")-<} dm. high; pistillate spikes oblong, 0.5-2 cm. long, the upper sessile 



484. C. lax., v. put. 



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