8 CYPERACEAE. 



79. Carex oxylepis Torr. & Hook. Sharp-scaled Sedge. (Fig. 749.) 



Carex oxylepis Torr. & Hook. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3: 409. 

 1836. 



Culms slender, smooth, erect, i-2 tall. Leaves 

 flat, i^ // -3 // wide, pubescent, especially on the 

 sheaths, shorter than or equalling the culm, the 

 lower bract similar but narrower; spikes 4 or 5, 

 linear- cylindric, i / -2 / long, about 2 // in diameter, 

 rather densely many-flowered, filiform-stalked and 

 at maturity spreading or drooping, the terminal 

 one staminate at the base or sometimes wholly 

 staminate; perigynia oblong, sharply 3-angled, 

 pointed at both ends, slightly swollen, 2" long, 

 less than \" thick, several -nerved, the orifice en- 

 tire; scales ovate-lanceolate with broad white scar- 

 ious margins, short-awned, about one-third shorter 

 than the perigynia, the awn scabrous; stigmas 3. 



Southern Missouri to Tennessee and South Carolina, 

 south to Texas and Florida. April-May. 



80. Carex formosa Dewey. Handsome Sedge. (Fig. 750.) 



Carex formosa Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 8: 98. 1824. 



Culms slender, smooth, erect, i-2j^ tall. Leaves 

 flat, pubescent, especially on the sheaths, the basal 

 2 // -3 // wide, often as long as the culm; lower bract 

 similar to the shorter culm-leaves; spikes 3-5, oblong- 

 cylindric, dense, %'-!%' long, nearly $" in diameter, 

 filiform-stalked, spreading or drooping, the lower 

 distant, the upper one staminate at the base; peri- 

 gynia ovoid, glabrous, ascending, swollen, faintly 

 few-nerved, 2 // long, i" thick, tipped with a very 

 short and slightly notched beak; scales lanceolate or 

 ovate, green, with scarious margins, acute, cuspidate 

 or the lower short-awned, shorter than the perigynia 

 or the lower equalling them; stigmas 3. 



In dry woods and thickets, Massachusetts and Vermont 

 to southern Ontario, New York and Michigan. June-July. 



8z. Carex Davisii Schwein. & Torr. Davis' Sedge. (Fig. 751.) 



Carex Davisii Schwein. & Torr. Ann. Lye. X. Y. i: 



326. 1825. 

 Carex Torreyana Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 10: 47. 182* 



Similar to the preceding species, culms stouter, 

 Jj^-S tall. Leaves \Yt"-?>" wide, flat, pubescent, 

 especially on the sheaths, the basal ones often as 

 long as the culm; lower bract foliaceous, commonly 

 overtopping the spikes; spikes 3-5, clustered near 

 the summit or the lower one distant, dense, 

 \Y^ f l D g, 3 X/ in diameter, all filiform-stalked and at 

 length spreading or drooping, the terminal one stam- 

 inate at the base; perigynia ovoid, much swollen, 

 glabrous, strongly several-nerved, 2 // -2^ // long, 

 rather more than i" thick, tipped with a very 

 short but conspicuously 2-toothed beak; scales lan- 

 ceolate or oval, long-awned, spreading, equalling 

 or longer than the perigynia; stigmas 3. 



In moist thickets and meadows, MassacliUM 

 New York and Minnesota, south to Georgia, Kentucky 

 and the Indian Territory. May-July. 





