244 



CVPKRACE.'E. Carex. 



sheaths, very long, the lowest sometimes 2i feet; auricles purple, entire, truncate: 

 spikes 4 to 6, of a yellowish ferruginous color, cylindrical, the male 1 or 2, com- 

 monly ])e(luncl(!(l, the ujjpermost 1 to 3\ inches long ami 2 or 3 lines thick, some- 

 times with a few female llowcrs above the middle or at the base, the rest female (the 

 upper ones or all male at top), 2 to 3i inches huig and 2 to i\ lines thick, remote, 

 densely llowered, the upper sessile, the lower nodding on long j)eduncles (2^ inches 

 long or less) and loosely llowered at base ; scales purj)le or ferruginous, pale in the 

 middle, lanceolate or oblong, ciliate, acute or with a rough awn, rarely obtuse : 

 perigyiaum oval, ovate, round, or obovate, abruptly or gradually beaked with 

 the orihce varying fiom nearly entire to bidentate with serrate teeth, coriaceous, 

 sparingly toothed on the upper margins, more or less distinctly nerved, com- 

 pressed-lenticular, punctate, broader than the scale : nutlet ovate, dark olive. — III. 

 iv. 174, t. 594. 



In tlie Coast Ranges and near the sea, from Santa Baikua (Xutldll) to Oregon. 



51. C, Prescottiana, Boott. Stem 2 or 3 feet high, smooth, leafy at base: 

 leaves 4 lines broad, about equalling the stem : bracts without sheaths, the lower 

 foliaceous and much exceeding the stem : spikes G to 10, cylindrical, sessile, the 

 male 1 or 2, 1 to 2\ inches long and a line thick, the rest female, 2h to 4 inches 

 long and H to 2.V fines thick, contiguous, erect or drooping, the ui)per male at top : 

 scales puri'le, ]y,\\ii in the middle, ovate or obovate, oljtuse or emarginate, roughly 

 cus[)idato : pt-rigynium broadly ovate (when young ol)ovate), rostellate with an 

 emarginate beak, divergent, nerved, longer and broader than the scale : nutlet 

 chestnut-colored, obovate, lenticular, much shorter than the perigynium. — ill. i. 45. 

 t. 115. C. Barbarce, Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 2 ser. xx.xi. 24. 



Banks of streams at Santa Barbara {Pami) ; also in the island of Hawaii. 



C. ScHOTTil, Dewey, 1. e. 25, an imperfectly defined species from Santa Barbara (Parrii), 

 would appear to belong here. The spikes are cylindrical, very slender, the male 3 to 5, and 3 

 inches long, the ft-niale 3 or 4 and 4 to 8 inches long, loosely flowered, umniually pednncled : 

 bracts foliaceous, with long sbeatlis ; leaves and bracts glaucous : scales dark red, oblong, obovate, 

 scarcely acute : fruit abortive. 



C. Wat-soni, Olney, Bot. King Exp. 370, is founded upon specimens too young for satisfactory 

 description. The stem is 18 inclies high, sliorter than the ujiijer leaves : spikelets 7, the male 4, 

 the uppermost largest and the rest short, all aggregated ; scales claret-colored, lanceolate, hispid, 

 aristate, ciliate at the apex, the male 3-nerved: i)erigynium deeply cleft, the bifid beak spreading 

 and slightly hairy. Collected at the base of the Wa.shoe Mountains, near Carson City, Nevada, 



* * Stiijmas 3. 



■»- Perigynium healdess or short-beaked, the orifice entire or emarginate. 



++ Perigynium smooth. 



52. C. livida, Willd. Stoloniferous, glaiicous : steni 4 to 17 inches high, ob- 

 tusely angled : leaves rigid, 1 to U lines broad, shorter tlian the stem : bracts clasp- 

 ing or sheathed, the lowest equalling or slightly exceeding the stem ; sheaths 2 to 4 

 lines long : spikes 2 to 4, oblong, erect, the uppermost male, 5 to 12 lines long and 

 ^ to 1 line thick, mostly peduncled, the female 1 or 2 (rarely none), 10- i5-flow- 

 ered, 4 to 8 lines h)ng and 2 to 2^ thick, approximate, sessile or short-peduncled, 

 with rarely another i)orne on along radical peduncle; scales more or less purple 

 with greeji midnerve and hyaline nuirgins, ovate, obtuse, or the female scimetimes 

 cuspidate: pcM'igynium ovoid, with a straight obtuse entire point, obtusely 3-anylcd, 

 nerved, graindar, rather exceeding the scale : nutlet ellipsoidal, 3-angled, pro- 

 duced at base, chestnut-colored, two-thirds as long as the perigynium : base of the 

 style enlarged. — Schkuhr, Car. fig. 211 ; iJoott, lU. ii. 78, t. 214, 215. C. Gray- 

 ana, Dewey, 1. c. xxv. 141, t. S, lig. 59. 



In sphagnous swamps near Mt-ndotino City, Bohimkv, n. 4745. From Sitka and subarctic 

 America to the northern Atlantic States ; also in northern Europe. 



