Carex. CYPERACE^. 379 



22. Cakex decomposita, Muhl. (Plate CXLII.) Large-panicled Sedge. 



Spike decompound and paniculate ; spikelets very numerous and crowded, finally brown ; 

 perigynium broadly ovate, sessile, with a short abrupt beak which is rough on the margin, 

 5 - 9-nerved on each side, about the length of the ovate acuminate scale. — Muhl. gram. 

 p. 264 ; Dew. Car. I. c. 25. p. 140. t. S. /. 58 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 390. C. paniculata, 

 var. decomposita, Dew. I. c. 10. p. 276 ; Torr. Cyp. p. 390. 



Plant pale green. Culm 2-3 feet high, obtusely triangular, striate, slightly rough on the 

 angles, leafy. Leaves broadly linear, rough. Spike or panicle 2-4 inches long, more or less 

 bracteate below ; the branches alternate and nearly erect : spikelets ovoid, androgynous, with 

 the sterile flowers at the summit. Perigynium almost orbicular-ovate, convex on both surfaces 

 and distinctly nerved, particularly toward the base, very narrowly margined, of a dark brown 

 color when mature, the texture thick and corky : beak broad at the base and abruptly pointed, 

 slightly notched at the point. Style continuous. Achenium ovate, lenticular. 



Swamps. Yates county {^Dr. Sartwell). This species resembles C. paniculata of Europe ; 

 but in that species the perigynium is narrower, with a much longer and more deeply bifid beak. 



** Spiielets staminaie at the base. 



23. Carex trisperma. Dew. Three-seeded Sedge. 



Spikelets mostly 3, about 3-flowered, remote, alternate, sessile, ovate, the two lower ones 

 with long setaceous bracts ; perigynia oblong, acute or tapering to a short beak, somewhat 

 diverging, plano-convex, entire at the apex, finely nerved, nearly smooth on the margin, longer 

 than the oblong acute whitish scale. — Dew. Car. I. c. 9. p. 63. t. C. /. 12 ; Schwein. ^ 

 Torr. Cyp. I. c. p. 311 ; Beck, hot. p. 434 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 406. 



Culm 1-2 feet high, triangular, rough on the angles, very slender and weak, often pro- 

 strate, leafy. Leaves very narrow. Spikelets sterile below, 2 - 4-flowered ; the bracts of the 

 lower ones 2-3 inches long, hnear-setaceous. Scales very thin and membranaceous ; all but 

 the green midrib of a whitish color. Perigynium membranaceous, marked with numerous 

 slender nerves, green, about one third longer than the scale. Achenium obovate- oblong, 

 compressed. Style continuous. 



Sphagnous swamps, and wet mountain woods. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



24. Carex Deweyana, Schwein. Dewey's Sedge. 



Spikelets about 3, sessile, ovoid, rather distant, the uppermost one without a bract ; ache- 

 nium oblong-lanceolate, acuminate-rostrate, 2-toothed at the summit, a little rough on the 

 margin, rather longer than the oblong-lanceolate mucronate or slightly awned hyaline scale. — 

 Schwein. anal. tab. in ann. lye. N. York, \. p. 65 ; Dew. Car. I. c. 9. p. 62. ^ C. /. 11 ; 

 Schwein. 4- Torr. Car. I. c. p. 110 ; Beck, hot. p. 433 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 419. 



48* 



