350 



CYPERACEAE. 



Carex sterilis Willd. Little Prickly Sedge. (Fig. 844.) 



Carex sterilis Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 208. 1805. 



C. echinata var. microstachys Boeckl. Linnaea, 39: 125. 1875. 



Carex sterilis var. anguslata Bailey. Bull. Torr. Club, 20: 



425. 1893. 

 Carex sterilis var. excelsior Bailey, loc. cit. 424. 1893. 



Culms slender, stiff, erect or rarely spreading, S'-iS' 

 tall, rough, at least above. Leaves ^"-i" wide, shorter 

 than the culm; bracts very short or sometimes bristle- 

 form; spikes 3-5, subglobose or short-oblong, contigu- 

 ous or separated, about 2^" thick; staminate flowers 

 basal, usually numerous at the bottom of the upper 

 spike, or whole spikes occasionally staminate, or plants 

 rarely quite dioecious; perigynia pale, lanceolate, com- 

 pressed, spreading or reflexed when old, \Yz" long, %." 

 wide, several-nerved on both faces, thickened at the 

 base, tapering into a sharp-edged 2-toothed rough beak 

 more than one-half as long as the body; scales ovate, 

 hyaline, shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 2. 

 In moist soil, Newfoundland to British Columbia, south to Florida, Louisiana, Colorado and 

 California. Ascends to 4000 ft. in Virginia. Variable. May-July. 



Carex sterilis cephalantha Bailey, Bull. Torr. Club, 20: 425. 1893. 

 Carex echinata var. cephalantha Bailey, Mem. Torr. Club, i: 58. 1889. 



Stouter, sometimes 2 tall. Spikes 4-8, contiguous or separated; flowers more numerous; peri- 

 gynia rather larger; spikes very bristly. Range nearly that of the species; perhaps merely a stout form. 



175. Carex Atlantica Bailey. Eastern Sedge. (Fig. 845.) 



Carex stellulata var. conferta Chapm. Fl. S. States, 534. 



1860. Not C. conferta Koch. 

 Carex Atlantica Bailey, Bull. Torr. Club, 20: 425. 1893. 



Similar to large forms of the preceding species but 

 stouter, culms very rough above, i-2> tall. Leaves 

 i // -i^ // wide, stiff, flat or in drying somewhat invo- 

 lute, the upper sometimes overtopping the spikes; 

 spikes 4-7, spreading, subglobose or short-cylindric, 

 nearly 3" in diameter, several-many-flowered, the 

 staminate flowers numerous at the base of the terminal 

 one, or this rarely entirely staminate; perigynia broadly 

 ovate, flat, sharp-margined, i // -i^ // long, V wide, 

 cordate or rounded at the base, strongly several- 

 nerved on the outer face, few-nerved on the inner, 

 spreading or reflexed at maturity, abruptly tipped 

 with a stout, rough 2-toothed beak about one-third as 

 long as the body; scales shorter than the perigynia. 



In swamps, Newfoundland to Florida. June-July. 



176. Carex interior Bailey. Inland Sedge. (Fig. 846.) 



Carex interior Bailey, Bull. Torr. Club, 20: 426. 1893. 



Similar to C. sterilis, culms very slender, wiry, 

 rather stiff, erect, i-2 tall. Leaves only about 

 Yt" wide, shorter than the culm; bract of the lower 

 spike very short; spikes 2-4, nearly globular, 

 somewhat separated, several-flowered, 2" in dia- 

 meter, the terminal one staminate at the base; 

 perigynia ovate or ovate-lanceolate, i" or less 

 long, about Y*" wide, faintly few-nerved on the 

 outer face, nearly nerveless on the inner, thickened, 

 rounded or subcordate at the base, spreading or re- 

 flexed when old, tapering into a nearly smooth 

 2-toothed beak one-third to one-half as long as the 

 body; scales ovate, acute or obtusish, shorter than 

 the perigynia; stigmas 2. 



Wet soil, Maine to Minnesota, Florida and K. 

 Differs from C. sterilis in its shorter, shorter-beaked 

 and weaker-nerved perigynia. May-July. 



