358 



CYPERACEAE. 



1 08. Carex straminea Willd. Straw Sedge. (Fig. 868.) 



Carex straminca Willd. ; Schk. Riedgr. 49. f. 34. 1801. 



Culms very slender, roughish above, i-2^ long, the 

 top commonly nodding or recurved. Leaves \" wide or 

 less, long-pointed, shorter than the culm; bracts short or 

 the lower bristle-form and exceeding its spike; spikes 3- 

 8, subglobose or slightly obovoid, 2 // -2j4 // thick, yellow- 

 ish brown or greenish, separated on the commonly zigzag 

 rachis, or contiguous; staminate flowers basal; perigynia 

 spreading or ascending, ovate, brown, about i%" long, 

 rather more than y z " wide, strongly several-nerved on 

 the outer face, fewer-nerved on the inner, wing-margined, 

 the tapering rough 2-toothed beak about as long as the 

 body; scales lanceolate, acute, about equalling the peri- 

 gynia, but narrower; stigmas 2. 



In dry fields, Xew Brunswick to Manitoba, Pennsylvania, 

 Michigan, and probably farther south. June-July. 

 Carex straminea mirabilis (Dewey) Tuckerm. Enum. Meth. 



18. 1843. 

 Care.r mirabilis Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 30: 63. 1836. 



Larger, culm slender, 2-5 long; leaves i"-2 l A" wide; spikes larger, 3" -4" thick, rather 

 greener; perigynia spreading, narrower, longer than the scales. Range of the type, extending 

 south to North Carolina and Missouri. Perhaps better regarded as a distinct species. 



199. Carex silicea Olney. Sea-beach Sedge. 

 (Fig. 869.) 



Carex silicea Olney, Proc. Am. Acad. 7: 393. 1868. 



C. straminea var. moniliformis Tuckerm. Enum. Meth. 17. 



1843. Not C. scoparia var. moniliformis Tuckerm. 1843. 

 Care.r foenea var. sabulonum A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 580. 1867. 



Not C. sabulosa Turcz. 1837. 



Culms slender, rather stiff, erect but the summit re- 

 curved or nodding, roughish above, l-2}4 tall. Leaves 

 \" wide or rather less, involute in drying, shorter than 

 the culm; bracts always very short; spikes 5-8, ovoid-conic 

 or ovoid-oblong, silvery-green, nearly white or becoming 

 brownish, erect, conspicuously contracted and staminate 

 at the base, 4 // -6 // long, about 2^" thick, all separated 

 or the uppermost close together; perigyuia ovate-oval, 

 short-beaked, finely nerved on both faces, wing-mar- 

 gined, appressed, about 2" long, more than \" wide, 

 longer and broader than the lanceolate scales; stigmas 2. 



In sands of the sea coast, Nova Scotia to New Jersey. June-Aug. 



200. Carex tenera Dewey. Marsh Straw Sedge. (Fig. 870.) 



Carex tenera Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. 8: 97. f. 9. 1824. 

 C. straminea var. aperta Boptt, 111. 120. pi. 385. 1862. 

 C. straminea var. tenera Bailey, Bot. Gaz. 10: 381. 



Culm very slender, erect or the summit nodding, 

 roughish above i-2 high. Leaves shorter than the 

 culm, usually less than \" wide, tapering to a very 

 long point; bracts usually short or wanting, some- 

 times bristle-form; spikes 4-6, oval, obtuse, densely 

 many-flowered, separated or the upper contiguous, 

 greenish -brown, 4 // ~5 // long, staminate and commonly 

 much contracted at the base; perigynia ovate to ovate- 

 lanceolate, ascending, appressed, strongly several- 

 nerved on both faces, wing-margined, the tapering 

 rough beak more than half as long as the body; scales 

 lanceolate, about as long as the perigynia, but much 

 narrower; stigmas 2. 



In wet soil, common along brackish marshes, Maine 

 and Ontario to Virginia and Louisiana. May-June. 

 Carex tenera invisa (\V. Boott) Britton. 

 C in, r straminea var. ini'isa W. Boott, Coult. Bot. Gaz. 9: 86. 1884. 



Spikes smaller, subglobose or short-oblong, not more than 3" thick, the lower one usually sub- 

 tended by a filiform bract 1 A' -^A' long. Maine to Delaware. 



