Carex. CYPERACE^. 245 



53. C. laxiflora, Lam., var. plantaginea, Boott. Cespitose : stem 12 to 18 

 inches high, slender, sharply angled : radical leaves 6 to 18 inclies long, 5 to 7 lines 

 broad, the cauline and lower bracts 3 or 4 lines broad, shorter than the stem, the 

 sheath of the latter 1 to 2| inches long : spikes 4 or 5, pale, cylindrical, an inch 

 long or more, the male single, the female loosely flowered, 1 or 2 lines thick, the 

 upper contiguous on enclosed peduncles, the rest remote and the lowest sometimes 

 radical on long exserted peduncles ; scales hyaline with green midnerve, ovate, ob- 

 tuse or acute or cuspidate : perigynium ellipsoidal, acute at each end, obtusely 

 angled, erect or curving outwards at top, with entire hyaline oritice, many-nerved, 

 longer or shorter than the scale : nutlet chestnut-colored, obovoid, 3-angled, punc- 

 tate. — 111. i. 37. C. plantaginea, Schk. Car. fig. 195, not Lam. 



Mendocino County {Bolandar, n. 4747); Washington Territory {Lyall), and in the Atlantic 

 States. The species is fretiuent eastward, under numerous forms, from Canada to Floiida and 

 Texas. 



54. C. podocarpa, R. Br. Stoloniferous : stem 1 to 2| feet high, slightly 

 scabrous above and often cernuous : leaves 1 to 3 lines broad, shorter than the stem, 

 the upper the longest : bmcts foliaceous, without sheaths, the lowest and sometimes 

 the lower two ecpialling or exceeding the stem ; auricles purple, oblong, rarely 

 clasping and sheath-like : spikes 3 to 6, ellipsoidal, oblong-cylindrical or clavate, \ 

 to 1 inch long, 3 lines thick, the male single (rarely 2), the female (the upper one 

 sometimes male at top) appi-oximate, sessile or shortly peduncled, or all remote 

 and more or less pedaucled and the lowest pendulous on a long smooth subradical 

 peduncle 6 or 7 inches long ; scales purple, oblong or lanceolate, sometimes unequally 

 emarginate, acute or roughly awned : perigynium blotched with purple, oval or 

 ovate, gradually or abruptly ending in a minutely bideutate orifice or cylindrical 

 beak, compressed above, triangular below, obscurely nerved excepting the two in- 

 tramarginal veins, equalling or shorter than the scale : nutlet loosely inclosed in 

 and much smaller than the perigynium, obovoid-triangular or lenticular, stipitate, 

 olive-colored : stigmas 3 or 2. — Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. ii. 224, t. 224, and III. iv. 197. 

 C. ynacrocJueta, Meyer, Car. JS^ov. 224, t. 13. C. speciabilis, Dewey, 1. c. xxix. 

 248, t. 10, fig. 76. 



In the Sierra Nevada, from the head of Kern River {Rothrock, n. 302) and northward, to 

 Alaska ; also in northeastern Asia. Very variable in the dimensions, foi'ni and position of the 

 spikes and in the length of the beak. In one Californian specimen {Bnurcr, n. 1773") the stig- 

 mas are 4 or 5, in another {Brewer, n. 2319) the perigynia are staminiferous. 



55. C. Raynoldsii, Dewey. Stoloniferous : stem 1 to 3| feet high, sharply 

 angled : leaves glaucous, 3 or 4 lines broad, flat with revolute margins, rather ab- 

 ruptly tapering to a triangular apex, shorter than the stem : bracts without sheaths, 

 foliaceous, the lowest about equalling the stem ; auricles purple, round or oblong : 

 spikes 3 to 6, oblong or obovoid, the male single, 4 to 9 lines long, sessile, the female 

 6 to 8 lines long and 3 or 4 thick, sessile or short-peduncled, contiguous or the 

 lowest 2 to 2|- inches distant on a peduncle 1 to 1|- inches long, occasionally com- 

 pound at base, the upper often staminate at top ; scales purple, or pale in the mid- 

 dle and on the margins, oblong or ovate, acute or acuminate : perigynium divergent 

 and deciduous, pale yellow, obovoid, ventricose, obtusely 3-angled, abruptly rostel- 

 late with a purple emarginate beak, nerved, longer and broader than the scale : 

 nutlet triangular obovoid, the sides concave below, olive-colored. — Am. Journ. Sci. 

 2 ser. xxxii. 39. 



In the Sierra Nevada, at 8,000 to 12,000 feet altitude, from Mount Dana to Silver Valley ; also 

 in Washington Territory (Lijall), and from Wyoming Territory to Northein Utah. 



56. C. serratodens. Stem 1 to U- feet high, smooth : leaves li lines broad, 

 shorter than the stem ; lower slieaths sparingly fibrous-reticulate : bracts foliaceous, 

 clasping, narrow, the lowest exceeding the stem and the next its spikelet ; auricles 

 oblong, purple, separated or united : spikes 3 or 4, the male single, clavate, 1 to 1 1- 



