CTPERACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 579 



++ *-*• Spikes androgynous. 



36. C. Stellul^ta, L. Spikes 3 - 5, the uppermost much contracted at the 

 base by the numerous staminate flowers; perigynia ovate or slightly heart- 

 sliaped at the base, which has thickish or obtuse margins, the apex more mi- 

 nutuly tootiied; scales rather blunt and considerably shorter; leaves flatter and 

 pale : otherwise nearly as in the last. — Like Superior and northward. (Eu.) 



Var: seil'poideS. Culms slender and weak (9' -20') ; leaves very narrow; 

 spikes contiguous, smaller ;.perig-ynia with a rounded or truncate base, plano- 

 convex, almost twice the length of the obtuse scale. (C. scirpoides, Sc/ik.) — 

 Wet places : common. 



Var. angUStata, is remarkable for the narrow lanceolate perigynia more 

 than twice the length of the blunt scale and oblong achcnium; otherwise as in 

 var. scirpoides. — Fairfield, New York. 



-t- t- Splices rather large: perlgijnla tldclccned and spongi/ on the angles, with a more 

 or less dilated metnbranac.bous margin or wing. — Ovales. 



37. C. sychnocepliala, Carey. Spikes denselji clustered, forming a short 

 compound spiked head, subtended bi/ 3 verij long and unequal persistent lerify brads ; 

 perlgjpila tapering from an abruptly contracted ovate base into a long slender beak, 

 somewhat exceeding the lanceolate abruptly mucronate scale. (C. cyperoidas, 

 Dew., not of Z.) — JeflFcrson County ( Vasey & Knleskern) and Little Falls, New 

 York, Vasey. — Different in habit from the rest of this section; recognized at 

 once by the ovoid compound spike, subtended by long leaty bracts, by which 

 the lower spikes ai-e partly concealed. 



38. C. ai'ida, Schw. & Torr. ASy^'te 8 - 10, approximate (3' long), oWo»(/- 

 cyllndrlcal, contracted at each end; perigynia narrowly lanceolate (4-5 Ihies In 

 length), tapering into a long beak more than twice the length of the ovate-lanceolate 

 scale ; achenium sessile, narrowly oblong. (C. Muskingumensis, Schw.) — Wet 

 meadows, Ohio to Wisconsin and Kentucky. — In characters scarcely distin- 

 guished from the next, but strikingly different in appearance ; much larger, with 

 long, dry, and chafly-looking spikes. 



39. C. seoparia, Schk. jSyj/te 5 - 8, c/u6-s/(«/>ec/, at length ovate, more or 

 less approximate, sometimes forming a dense head : perigynia ell Ipllcal-lanceolate, 

 tapering into a long slender beak, longer than the lanceolate pointed scale; achenium 

 distinctly stalked, exactly oval. — Low meadows : everywhere common. — Spikes 

 brownish or straw-colored when ripe. — Var. minor, Boott. Spikes more rusty, 

 smaller, contiguous; perigynia narrowly lanceolate. — Base of Wiiite ^Nloun- 

 tains, New Hampshire, and northward. 



40. C. lagopodioides, Schk. Spikes 10-15 or more, approximate, or 

 tlij lower more separated; perigynia lanceolate, nearly twice the length of the ovate- 

 oblong ralhir pointed scale; achenium narrowly oval, on a short stalk ; leaves very 

 tapering to the apex ; their sheaths loose, enlarging upwards, sharp-edged. — 

 Moist, rather shady places : common. 



4L C. cristata, Schw. Spikes sma//e/-, 8-12 closely aggregated, globular, 

 greenish; perigynia oblong or ovate, recurved at maturity; scules olitnse ; otherwise 

 as in the last, of which in former editions it was taken for a variety. — AVet or 

 moist ground : common. 



