CYPERACK^. (sedge FAMILY.) 583 



2 fertile spikes 9"- 18" in length, appearing somewhat bristly from the long and 

 spreading scale. Differs from the next chiefly in the rounder perigyniuni and 

 nearly smooth culm, and should perhaps bo referred to it. 



51. C. Stricta, Lam. (not of Good.) Sterile spikes 1-3; the fertile 2 -4, 

 ajlindrical, slender, usitalli/ barren ot the summit, sessile, or the lower on a short 

 stalk; lower bract with rounded or ohlong brown auricles, seldom exceeding 

 the culm ; perigynia ovate-acuminate or elliptical, nerceless, or very obscurely few- 

 nerved, often minutdy rowjh on the short, entire, or sVkjIuIij votrheJ point, usually 

 shorter and broader than the narrow reddish-brown scale ; culm slender, sharpli/ 

 triamjular, rough, longer than the narrow and rigid rough and glaucous leaves ; 

 their older sheaths with conspicuous reticulated fibres. (C. acuta, il/u/t/., &c., 

 not of L. C. Vii-giniana, Smith in Rees, Cijcl. C. acuta, var. erecta, Dew. 

 C. angustata, Boott.) — Var. STRfcTiOR has shorter and more dcnsel}- flowered 

 fertile spikes, and perigynia equalling or somewhat exceeding the scale. (G. 

 stn'ctior, Dew.) — Wet meadow^s and swamps : very common. — Grows in large 

 and very compact tufts: culms 2°-2j° high. Scales of the fertile spikes very 

 variable ; the lower commonly acute, the upper narrower and obtuse. (C. xero- 

 carpa, .S". //. Wright, in Dew. Cat., seems to be a mere state of C. stricta.) 



52. C. lentieulai'is, Miehx. Stn-ile spike single and mostii/ fertile at the 

 top; the fertile 2-5, erect, cylindrical (G"- 12'' long), sessile, or the lower short- 

 peduncled, densely-flowered; bracts exceeding the cn\m ; periggnia orate-oral, 

 sessile, more or less nerred, abruptly short-pointed, the point entire, slightly ex- 

 ceeding the oblong and very obtuse scale; culm (6' -20' high) and leaves smooth 

 or nearly so, pale. — Wet gravelly banks and shores, X. Maine (./. Blake, C. 

 E. Smith), N. New York {Torreg, Knieskern, J. A. Paine), Upper Michigan 

 {Prof. Porter, (Jr.), and northward. 



*+ ++ 4-H- Paludose or maritime: pistillate scales owned or pointed from the broad and 

 strong more or less triple-nerved centre or midrib. 



53. C. salina, Wahl. Sterile spikes 2 - S ; the fertile 2-4, cglindrical, erect, 

 often sterile at the apex, on more or less included stalks ; bracts long, with 

 rounded auricles, the two lowest commonly exceeding the cuhn ; periggnia ocate- 

 'elliptlcal, with a minute entire point, nerveless, rather shorter than the -roughlg-awned 

 dark-brown scale; culm (l°-2° high) rough at the top, rather exceeding the 

 leaves. — Salt nuirshes, Massachusetts (Greene, W. Boott), Maine [G. L. Good- 

 ale), and far northward. (Eu.) 



54. C. maritima, Vahl. Sterile and fertile spikes each 2-4 (the latter 

 rarely 5 or 6) (l'-2' long), spreading or drooping on shnder peduncles : periggnia 

 uearlg orbicular, with a short entire ])oint, much shorter than the long-awned green- 

 ish scale; culm (l°-2° high) and the broad flat hares smooth. (C. paleacea, 



Wahl.) — Salt marshes, Cambridge and Medford, Mass. {Greene, W. Boott), 

 Wells, Maine, (./. Bloke) and northward: rare. (Eu.) 



55. C. orinlta, Lam. Sterile spikes 1-2, often with fertile flowers vari- 

 ously intermixed; the fertile 3-5, long-cglindric<il (2' -3' long), densely JJoioered, 

 often staminatc at the apex, on e.rserted nodding stalks ; bracts very long, exceed- 

 ing the culm ; periggnia roundish-oborute, sUffhtlg inflated, obscurely nerved, with 

 a short entire point, shorter than thu oblong mostly notcJied roughly-serrate awned 



