CYPEEACE^E. ( SEDGE FAMILY.) 611 



into a colored cusp and at length deciduous ; perigynium obovate, much con- 

 tracted below into a stipe-like base, very strongly nerved, entirely pointless, 

 hairy above, covered by the scale. (C. Boottiana, Benth.) In a wooded ravine 

 with Hepatica and Epigaea, near Bloomington, Ind. (Dudley) ; also Ala. and La. 

 * 7. SpHLERiDidPHOiLE. - <- 1. Scirpmce. 



84. C. scirpoidea, Michx. Strict, the pistillate plant mostly stiff, 6 - 18" 

 high ; leaves flat, shorter than the culm ; spike 1' long or less, densely cylin- 

 drical, very rarely with a rudimentary second spike at its base ; perigynium 

 ovate, short-pointed, very hairy, about the length of the ciliate purple scale. 

 Mountains of N. New Eng. ; Drummond's Island, L. Huron. (Norway.) 



* 7. <- 2. Montance. 



w- Some or all of the culms longer than the leaves (or in the type ofu. 85 fre- 

 quently shorter). 



= Staminate spike minute, wholly or partially concealed in the head; leaves 

 always very narrow ; radical spikes often present. 



85. C. deflexa Hornem. Diffuse and low, tufted ; culms 1-6' high, 

 setaceous, more or less curved or spreading, little exceeding or shorter than 

 the leaves ; staminate spike exceedingly minute and nearly always entirely in- 

 visible in the head; pistillate spikes 2-3, 2 - 5-flowered, green, or green and 

 brown, all aggregated into a head, the lowest one always more or less short- 

 peduncled and subtended by a leafy bract ' long or less ; radical spikes few ; 

 porigynium very small and much contracted below, sparsely hairy or nearly 

 smooth, the beak flat and very short, mostly longer than the acutish scale. 

 (C. Novae-Angliae, last ed., mostly.) High mountains of N. H. and Vt. 



Var. Ddanei, Bailey. Taller and lax, the culms 6-12' high and some 

 or all prominently longer than the longer and loose leaves ; staminate spike 

 much larger (2 -3" long), erect or oblique, sessile ; pistillate spikes larger (4- 

 8-flowered), less aggregated or the lowest usually separated, though rarely more 

 than % apart ; radical spikes usually numerous ; bract mostly longer. Swales 

 or dryish places, high or subalpine regions, Mt. Desert, Maine (Rand) ; Essex, 

 Mass. ; N. H., Vt., and N. Y. ; scarce. In aspect like n. 86. 



Var. media, Bailey. Rather stiff, 4-12' high, in dense tufts ; most of the 

 spikes equalling or exceeding the leaves, the staminate prominent, erect (3 - 

 5" long), sessile or very short-peduncled ; pistillate spikes 2-3, all scattered, 

 the uppermost at or near the base of the staminate spike, the lowest usually 

 very prominently peduncled and subtended by a conspicuous bract which sur- 

 passes the culm, all rather compactly 3 - 8-flowered, green, or brown and green ; 

 radical spikes several ; perigynium larger, much like that of short-beaked forms 

 of n. 90. Keweenaw Co., Mich. (Farwell) ; also far westward. 



86. C. varia, Muhl. Erect, mostly strict, 6-15' high, tufted and some- 

 what stolonif erous ; culms variable in length, often twice longer than the 

 leaves; staminate spike 3" long or less ; pistillate spikes closely aggregated, 

 or rarely somewhat loosely disposed but never scattered, all strictly sessile, 

 green ; radical spikes none ; lower bract usually present ; perigynium longer- 

 pointed than in the last, about the length of the sharp scale. (C. Emmonsii, 

 Dewey.) Banks and dry woods; frequent. In var. COLORATA, Bailey, the 

 scales are purple. Mostly southward, 



