CYPERACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY) 



233 



C. atrata, v. ovata. 



430. C. polygaraa. 



79. C. atrata L., var. ovata (Rudge) Boott. Very slender but erect, 2-9 

 din. high ; culm rather sharp, roughish above ; leaves narrow but flat, shorter 

 than the culm ; spikes 3-6, all but the terminal one on 

 slender stalks, drooping when mature, 1-2.5 cm. long, ellip- 

 soid or short cylindric, reddish-brown to purplish-black; 

 perigynia broadly ovate, thin and puncticulate, very short- 

 beaked, the orifice slightly notched ; scales blunt, thin- 

 margined, about as long as the perigynia. 

 (C. atratiformis Britton.) By streams 

 and in cold ravines, Nfd. to Athabasca, 

 locally s. to the mts. of n. N. E. June- 

 Aug. FIG. 429. 



80. C. polygama Schkuhr. Rather 

 slender but stiff, 2-9 dm. high ; culm 

 sharp, roughish above ; leaves very nar- 

 row, rough, mostly shorter than the 

 culm : spikes 2-7, the terminal rarely all 

 staminate, sessile and approximate or the lowest very short- 

 stalked, from globular to narrowly cylindric, 0.7-5 cm. long, 

 dark brown or variegated; perigynia elliptic and beakless, 

 whitish and granular, nearly nerveless, the orifice entire ; 

 staminate scales very long-lanceolate, the pistillate lance-ovate and very sharp, 

 conspicuously longer than the perigynia. ((?. fusca Man. ed. 6, not All. ; 

 C. Buxbaumii Wahlenb.) Bogs and wet shores, e. Que. to Alaska, 

 s. to Pa., Great Lake region, Mo., Utah, and Cal.; and in the mts. 

 to N. C. May-July. (Eu.) FIG. 430. 



81. C. triceps Michx., var. hirsuta (Willd.) Bailey. Slender; 

 leaves narrow, hairy; spikes 2-4 (usually 3), all contiguous or 

 occasionally the lowest somewhat removed, sessile, thick-cylindric 

 to globular, green or brown (4-7 mm. thick); perigynia broad- 

 ovoid, flattish, very obtuse, often sparsely hirsute 

 when young but smooth at maturity ; staminate 

 scales very sharp ; pistillate scales acute or short- 

 awned, about the length of or shorter than the 

 perigynia. ( C. triceps Britton in part, not Michx.) 



Copses and dryish meadows, N. E. to Ont., and 

 south w., rare northeastw. May-July. FIG. 431. 



Hybridizes with G. gracillima. 



Var. Smithii Porter. Tall, slender, olive-green, the leaves 

 very long, very nearly smooth; spikes small, globular to cylin- 

 dric, the lowest often somewhat remote, all more inclined to be 

 peduncled ; perigynia globular and turgid, brown, squarrose, 

 exceeding the brownish scales. (C. caroliniana Schwein.) 

 Fields and woodlands, Gulf States, locally n. to 

 N. Y., 111., and Mo. May, June. 



82. C. virSscens Muhl. Slender, erect or 

 spreading, 0.4-1 m. high ; leaves very narrow, 

 more or less hairy ; spikes 2-4, sessile or slightly 

 stalked, compact, linear-cylindric, 2-4 mm. thick ; 

 perigynia ellipsoid-ovoid, compressed, costate, 

 usually longer than the thin whitish acute scales. (Var. costata 

 Dewey ; C. costellata Britton.) Dry banks and copses, s. Me. 

 to s. Out., and south w. June, July. (W. I.) FIG. 432. Hy- 

 bridizes with C. arctata and C. debilis, var. Rudgei. 



Var. Swanii Fernald. Lower, 1.6-8 dm. high, the 2-5 thick-cylindric to 

 subglobose spikes 3-5 mm. thick; the perigynia less strongly ribbed. (C. vires- 

 cens Man. ed. 6, not Muhl.) Similar range. FIG. 433. 



83. C. formbsa Dewey. Slender, erect, 3-9 dm. high ; leaves flat, often 

 pubescent, 3-7 mm. broad, those of the culm short ; spikes 3-5, scattered, ellip- 

 soid or cylindrical, 1-3 cm. long, compact, all flexuose or drooping ; perigynia 



481. C. triceps, 

 v. hirsuta. 



432. C. virescens. 



