590 , CYPERACE^:. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



perigynia oval-triangular, narrowed to each end, the point either strongly or 

 sometimes slightly recurved. A most polymorphous species ; very common 

 in open woods, copses, &c. The leading forms were collated by Dr. Boott as 

 follows. The typical form taken by him (C. striatula, Michx.) has the leaves 

 long and narrow (2" -4" wide), spikes about 1' long and loosely flowered; peri- 

 gynia with a slightly recurved or almost straight point, their scale except the 

 lowest nearly pointless ; sterile spike mostly conspicuous and long-peduncled. 



Var. STYLOFLEXA, Boott. (C. styloflexa, Dew. C. fusiformis, Chapman.) 

 Slende^ the weak filiform culms l-2 long; fertile spikes 2-4, short, 5-10- 

 flowered, the lowest on a long setaceous peduncle ; bracts mostly shorter than 

 the culm ; perigynia more tapering or triangular-fusiform, the point commonly 

 recurved. New Jersey (C. F. Austin), Penn. (Prof. Porter), and southward. 



Var. PLANTAGfNEA, Boott (var. patulifolia of former edition. C. planta- 

 ginea, Schk.), has the root-leaves 5" -7" broad, otherwise as in the typical form. 



Var. INTERMEDIA, Boott (C. anceps, Willd., Schk.), includes various slender, 

 narrow-leaved forms, with loosely-flowered spikes, but otherwise as the next. 

 Var. BLANDA (C. blanda, Dew. C. laxiflora, var. striatula, Ed. 2), includes 

 narrow-leaved forms, 6' -18' high, with the sterile spike usually short or 

 club-shaped and nearly sessile. ; the fertile oblong and dense, the uppermost 

 approximate ; bracts much surpassing the culm ; perigynia obovate with a short 

 abruptly bent point ; scale usually awn-pointed. Var. LATir6LiA, Boott, has 

 a broadly and very sharp-angled culm, and very broad leaves and bracts 

 (8" -15" wide), inconspicuous sterile spike, the fertile ones cylindrical and 

 loosely flowered, but the broad perigynium much longer than the truncate or 

 abruptly short-pointed scale. 



*- -i- Perigynia densely striate, or as if finely wrinkled rather than nerved, of a firm 

 texture, obscurely triangular, with a callous orifice : style thickened above the base : 

 scale with the somewhat 3-nerved keel extended into a stout rough awn or point. 



90. C. oligocarpa, Schk. Fertile spikes small, 3 - 8-flowered ; the 

 point of the perigynium straight or slightly oblique, not recurved; leaves 

 rough only on the edge; sheaths smooth. (C. Sartwelliana, Gay.) Woods, 

 W. New England to Illinois and Kentucky. Culm slender, 6' -12' long. 



91. C. Hitchcockiana, Dew. Fertile spikes very loosely 3- 5-flowered ; 

 apex of the perigynium recurved ; sheaths and upper side of the leaves roughly 

 pubescent. Woods, New England to Illinois and Kentucky. Culm 1 - 2 

 high, stouter, and fruit larger than in the last. 



5. Perigynium without a beak, smooth or downy, not inflated, obovoid-triquetrous, 

 with a minute obliquely bent white and membranaceous point, reddish-brown 

 or olive-colored at maturity : bracts reduced to colored sheaths, or with a short 

 green prolongation : leaves all radical, narrow or bristle-shaped. DIGITATE. 



92. C. eblirnea, Boott. Sterile spike solitary ; the fertile 3-4, erect, about 

 5-Jlowered, approximated and elevated on long stalks above the staminate spike : the 

 lowest sometimes a little remote ; perigynia obscurely nerved, smooth and shin- 

 ing, rather longer than the broad and obtuse membranaceous whitish scale. 

 (C. alba, var. setifolia, Dew.) Limestone rocks, N. New England to Kentucky, 

 and northward. A delicate species, with very slender culms, 4'- 10 high, and 



