610 CYPERACE^E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



e= = Very strict, densely glaucous. 



78. C. livida, Willd. Culms 18' high or less ; leaves narrow, often becom- 

 ing involute ; spikes 1 or 2 and aggregated or approximate, or rarely a third 

 nearly radical, sessile or nearly so, erect, narrow ; perigynium ovoid-oblong, 

 nerved, granular, beakless, the point straight or nearly so, orifice entire ; scale 

 obtuse, mostly a little shorter than the perigynium. Pine-barrens of N. J., 

 and sphagnum swamps northward to N. Eng. and L. Superior ; local. (Eu.) 



# 6. --4. Bicolbres. 



79. C. aurea, Nutt. Low and slender, 1 high or less; bracts exceeding 

 'the culm ; spikes 2 - 4, all but the lowest usually approximate, peduncled or 

 the upper one or two sessile, erect, loosely few-flowered or sometimes becoming 

 f ' long, at maturity yellow or brown, the terminal one frequently pistillate 

 above ; perigynium fleshy at maturity, nerved, longer than the blunt scale. 

 Wet meadows and springy banks, throughout ; rather common. 



* 6. - 5. Digiiatoe. 

 ** Spikes two or more. 



80. C. ebtirnea, Boott. Exceedingly slender and capillary, erect, 4-12' 

 high, stoloniferous ; leaves shorter than the culjn ; staminate spike very small 

 and very short-peduncled, overtopped by the two upper pistillate spikes ; pistil- 

 late spikes 2-4, approximate or the lowest remote, all stalked, erect, 2 - 6-flow- 

 ered ; perigynium very small, almost nerveless, smooth and becoming black and 

 shining at full maturity ; scale white and thin, obtuse, shorter than the perigyn- 

 ium. Tufted in sandy or light soils from N. Eng. to Ky. and Neb. ; frequent. 



81. C. Bichardsdni, R. Br. Rather stiff, 4-9' high, stoloniferous; 

 sheaths short, purple or brown ; staminate spike stout and mostly short-pedun- 

 cled ; pistillate spikes 1-2, approximate, the very short stalks included, erect, 

 compact, less than -' in length ; perigynium obovoid, firm, hairy, the very short 

 beak entire or erose ; scale brown with a conspicuous white-hyaline margin, 

 obtuse or pointless, and longer than the perigynium. Dry ground, western 

 N. Y. to 111., and northwestward ; rare. 



82. C. pedunculata, Muhl. Low and diffuse, 3-10' high, forming 

 mats ; leaves abundant, very green, flat and firm, longer than the weak culms ; 

 staminate spike very small, with the uppermost pistillate spike sessile at its 

 base ; pistillate spikes 2 - 4 on each culm, scattered and long-peduncled from 

 green sheaths, erect or spreading, many other spikes nearly or quite radical 

 and very long-stalked, all 3 - 8-flowered ; perigynium triangular-obovate, smooth 

 or very slightly pubescent above, the short and nearly entire beak somewhat 

 oblique ; scale green or purple, truncate and cuspidate, mostly a little longer 

 than the perigynium. Dry woods and banks, N. Eng. to Va. (Kennedy) and 

 Minn. ; frequent northward. 



H. *-* Spike one or rarely a rudiment of a second ; plant dioecious. 



83. C. picta, Steudel. Rather weak, 1 high or less ; leaves flat and firm, 

 persisting through the winter, at least twice longer than the culm ; a sheath- 

 ing purple scale at the base of the spike ; staminate spike about 1' long, clavate 

 in anthesis, the purple scales ending in a very short and blunt whitish tip ; 

 pistillate spike narrower and mostly longer, the scales more abruptly contracted 



