SEDGK FAMILY. 



3*7 



106. Carex Meadii Dewey. 



Mead's Sedge. (Fig. 776.) 



Carex Meadii Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 43: 90. : 

 Carex tetanica var. Meadii Bailey, Proc. Am. Acad 23 



118. 1886. 

 Carex tetanica var. Carleri Porter, Proc. Acad. Phila 



1887: 76. 1887. 

 Carex tetanica var. Canbyi Porter, Proc. Acad. Phila 



1887: 76. 1887. 



Similar to the preceding species, culm stouter, 

 very rough above, la'-iS' tall. Basal leaves usually 

 shorter than the culm; bracts short, not overtopping 

 the spikes; staminate spike long-stalked; pistillate 

 spikes 1-3, sometimes staminate. at the summit, occa- 

 sionally compound at the base, oblong-cyliiulric. 

 densely flowered, X /-I/ l n & about 3" in diameter, 

 erect, stalked or the upper one sessile; pcrigynia 

 broadly oblong, prominently many-nerved, green, 

 \yt" long, about i" in diameter, tipped with a mi- 

 nute slightly bent beak; scales ovate, green with 

 purple-brown margins, acute, mucronate or the upper 

 obtuse, the upper short, the lower sometimes exceed- 

 ing the perigynia; stigmas 3. 



In swamps and wet meadows, Rhode Island to Pennsylvania and Georgia, wr*t ' 

 Assiniboia, Nebraska and Arkansas. The lowest spike is sometime* borne OB m very Umg Ulk 

 arising from the axil of one of the basal leaves. May-July. 



Carex laxiflora Lam. Loose-flowered Sedge. (Fig. 777-) 



Carex laxiflora I,am. Kiicycl. 3: yft. 1769. 



Glabrous, rather pale green, culms erect or retim- 

 ing, slender, roughish above, 6'-a long. La* Ml 

 i>*"-3" wide, soft, the basal mostly shorter than the 

 culm, the bracts similar to the culm-leave* sometiflM* 

 overtopping the spikes; stamioate spike usually 

 stalked; pistillate spikes 2-4, distant, linear -cjlindric. 

 loosely several-many-flowered, tf'-i' long. I 4 .- 

 thick, all slender-stalked and spreading or 

 or the upper one erect and sessile; pengrnia 

 ing, obovoid, more or less oblique, long. 



rather more than >" thick, narrowed at the base, 

 strongly many-nerved, tapering into a short stoat 

 outwardly bent entire beak; scales orate with hroad 

 white scarious margins, acute, cuspidate or awned. 

 shorter than or exceeding the perigynia; stigma* j. 



In meadows and thickets. Maine and Ovtario U. Mm 

 nesota, south to Florida. Alabama an.! 

 tor>'. Ascends to 5000 ft. in Virginia. M^ 



Carex laxiflora blanda (Dewey) Boott, 111. .17. 

 Carex blanda Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 10: 45. 1826. 

 Carex laxiflora var. striatula Carey in A. Gray, Man Kd. 2, 524 



- 



Pistillate spikes cylindric, mostly denselv flowered, the upper *rHe or nrarl 



nder-stalked. 



, , 



tiguous to the usually sessile staminate one, the lower slender-stalked. 

 haps distinct. 



Carex laxiflora varians BaiU-y, Mun. Torr 







York and Missouri. Range undetermined. 



Carex laxiflora patulifolia (Dewey) Carry in A. Gray, Man 

 Carex anceps var. patulifolia Dewey, Wood's Bot. 423- l8 45- 

 Glaucous or pale green; basal leaves 2 K "-4*" 



vil-c. T' In****- ^*- OTj~i*>k 1rt/-fcel*y flr*iv*r**f1 SPattCt"C< 



Glaucous or pale green; basal leaves 2 W -\% wiO 

 spike i' long or more, loosely flowered, scattered; pengyn 

 straight. Halifax, Nova Scotia (according to Macoun), M 

 ginia and Tennessee. 



Carex laxiflora divaricata Bailey, Mem. Torr. Club, 



Perigynia larger than in the other forms, contracted into a stipe . 

 Washington, D. C. 



