238 CYPERACE^. Carex. 



32. C. cristata, Schwein. Cespitose : stem 2 to 2J feet high, sharply angled, 

 scabrous : 1l-uvl\s 1 to 3 lines wide, attenuate at the apex, their sheaths sharply tri- 

 angular, loose : bracts scale-like or the lowest foliaceous and exceeding the stem : 

 sjDike oblong or cylindrical, 1 to 1|- inches long and 4 to G lines thick, of 8 to 12 or more 

 closely aggregated globular spikelets; scales membranous, lanceolate, obtuse : peri- 

 gynium oval or ovate, rostrate, bidenticulate, narrowly winged, ciliate-serrate on the 

 sharp margins, spreading or recurved, much longer than the scale : nutlet round- 

 o\'al, lenticular, ferruginous : style slightly thickened at base. — Cyp. 1. c. 315, t. 25, 

 tig. 1 ; Boott, 111. iii. 117, t. 372, 373. 



Yar. mirabilis ? Less rigid : spike looser and spikelets less spreading : perigyn- 

 ium longer beaked : scales pale chestnut, acute. — Boott, 1. c, t. 374. C. viirabills, 

 Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. xxx. 63. 



In the Yosemite Valley and from Santa Eosa to Ukiali, Bolandcr, n. 1C42, 3864, 6216. The 

 typical form of the species ran|2;es from Arctic America to the northern Atlantic States and Oie- 

 gon ; the variety from New England to Ohio, and has also been collected on the Columbia lliver. 



33. C. adusta, Boott. Cespitose : stem 1 or 2 feet high, obtusely angled, often 

 inclined at toj) : leaves flat, a line or two broad, shorter than the stem : bracts with- 

 out sheaths, the lower foliaceous, the upper scale-like : spike oblong, of 4 to 10 cla- 

 vate or roundish pale or straw-colored spikelets, the lower more or less remote and 

 occasionally compound ; scales membranous, white or ferrugdnoiis or straw-colored, 

 lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute : perigynium ovate, oval or orbicular, gradually 

 rostrate, bidentate, the upper margins narrowly winged and serrate, the lower obtuse, 

 turgid on the outer face, flat on the inner, strongly many-nerved, about equalling 

 the scale : nutlet suborbicular, biconvex, sessile, chestnut-colored. — Hook. Fl. Bor.- 

 Am. ii. 215, and 111. iii. 119, t. 379-383. C. argyrantha, Tuckerman ; Dewey, 

 1. c. 2 ser. xxix. 346, a delicate form. 



Var. COngesta. Spikelets of a light fulvous color, 6 to 8, crowded in an ovate 

 or oblong head : perigynium with longitudinal furrows, which conceal the nerves. 



In the Sierra Nevada, at the Calaveras and Mariposa Groves- and at Westfall's meadows {Bo- 

 lander) ; the variety mostly at higher altitudes, from Silver Valley and Lassen's Peak {Brewer, 

 n. 1977, 2178), and also from Calaveras Grove, Hillchrand, n. 2310. The species ranges from 

 Greenland and Arctic America to Pennsylvania, the Eocky Mountains of British Ameiiea, and 

 Oregon. 



§ 3. Uj^j^ermost spikelet androgynous, male at base ; the rest female : stigmas 3. 



34. C. Buxbaumii, Wahl. Stoloniferous : stem 1 to 2\ feet high, scabrous 

 above on the sharp angles : leaves firm, a line or two broad, shorter than the stem, 

 the lower surface densely punctate and the purple sheaths fibrous-reticulate : bracts 

 clasping witliout sheaths, the lowest rarely exceeding the stem : spike of from 3 to 

 5 erect purple and glaucous spikelets, f to 2 inches long and 2 to 4 lines thick; the 

 uppermost obovoid or club-shaped, male at bottom or rarely at both top and bottom, 

 or entirely male and cylindrical, the rest female, oblong or oblong-cylindrical, densely 

 flowered, contiguous and sessile or the lowest 1| to 3 inches distant on a short 

 peduncle ; scales purple, pale in the middle, oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acute or 

 acuminate or cuspidate, the cusp mostly smooth : perigynium glaucous, ellipsoidal, 

 ventricose, unequally 3-angled below, very short-beaked with the orifice emarginate 

 or rarely entire, granular, smooth on the margins, more or less prominently nerved, 

 broader and shorter than the scale : initlet obovoid-triangular, much shorter than the 

 perigynium, chestnut-colored. — Fl. Dan. t. 1406; Eeichenb. 1. c, t. 235; Boott, 

 in. iv. 136, t. 438, 439. 



At Soda Springs on the Tuolumne, at 9,700 feet altitude (Bolander, n. 5056) ; ranging from 

 Sitka and British America to Georgia, and in the Kocky Mountains to Colorado ; also in Europe, 

 Asia and Australia. 



35. C. bifida, Boott, ined. Stem 2 or 3 feet high, acutely angled, slightly 

 scabrous at top : leaves pale, 2 lines broad, shorter than the stem, the lower surface 



