236 CYPERACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY) 



95. C. deflSxa Hornem. Diffuse and low, tufted; leaves soft, 1-3 mm 

 wide; culms 0.2-4 dm. high, setaceous, more or less curved or spreading, 



little exceeding or shorter than the leaves ; staminate spike small, 

 sometimes invisible in the head ; pistillate spikes 2-3, 2-8- 

 flowered, green, or green and brown, all aggregated into a head, 

 or the lowest one slighty remote, short-peduncled and subtended 

 by a leafy bract ; radical spikes usually present ; perigynia very 

 aeflexa. gma j^ an( j m uch contracted below, sparsely hairy or nearly 



smooth, the beak flat and very short, longer than the scales. (Including 



var. Deanei Bailey.) Open woods, clearings, and mountain slopes, Nfd. 



to Alaska, s. to Mass., Pa., Mich., Minn., Wash., etc. May-Aug. (Greenl.) 



FIG. 448. 



96. C. albicans Willd. Slightly caespitose ; culms straightish, 1-5.5 dm. tall, 

 much exceeding the soft narrow (1.5-3 mm. wide) pale leaves; pistillate spikes 

 globose or short-ovoid, 1-3, all approximate, or the lowest slightly 



remote, naked or subtended by a narrow bract ; staminate spike 

 sessile, often hidden in the head; perigynia ellipsoid, pubescent, 

 with a short cylindric beak, mostly -exceeding the broad scales. 

 Open woods or cool rocky banks, chiefly in calcareous regions, 

 e. Que. to the Yukon, s. to Mass., Pa., Mich., and Minn. May- 

 July. FIG. 449. 



97. C. communis Bailey. Forming small tufts, never sto- 

 loniferous ; culms 1-6 dm. high, much exceeding the leaves; 

 leaves flat, becoming 2-5.5 mm. wide; inflorescence 1-8 cm. 

 long ; the 1-5 pistillate spikes mostly distinct, often remote, rarely 

 1 cm. long, the lowest often leafy-bracted ; staminate spike from 

 green to chestnut, sessile or stalked, 3.5-20 mm. long ; perigynia 

 hairy, 2.5-4 mm. long, the body subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 

 the base elongate and spongy, the beak broad ; scales ovate, 

 acuminate, greenish-brown to reddish, about equaling the peri- 

 gynia. (Including var. Wheeleri Bailey ; C. pedicellata Britton ; 

 C. pilulifera Fernald, not L.) Dry open woods, etc., e. Que. 



to B. C.', s. to Pa., O., Wise., and la. ; and along the mts. to 

 450. C. communis. _, _ , ' T , ' ' _ 



Ga. May-July. FIG. 450. 



98. C. varia Muhl. Densely tufted; leaves soft and very nar- 

 row ; the capillary culms variable in length, lax, often twice longer 

 than the leaves, 1-5 dm. long ; pistillate spikes closely aggregated, 

 or rarely somewhat loosely disposed but never scattered, all strictly 

 sessile, green ; radical spikes none ; lower bract usually present ; 

 perigynia about the length of the sharp scale. Banks and dry 

 woods, Me. to Ont., and south w. Apr.-July. FIG. 451. In 

 var. COLORXTA Bailey the scales are purple. 451. C. varia. 



99. C. nbvae-dngliae Schwein. Very slender and 



soft, loosely caespitose, 1-4 dm. high; culms little longer than the 

 very narrow pale-green leaves ; staminate spike exceedingly narrow 

 (0.5-1 cm. long, 0.5-1 mm. thick}, mostly minutely peduncled; pistil- 

 late spikes 2, or rarely 3, the upper one near the base of 

 the staminate spike, the lower very short-peduncled 

 and remote and subtended by a leafy bract which 

 nearly or quite equals the culm, rather loosely 3-10- 

 flowered ; perigynia very narrow, small, very thin, 

 slightly hairy, the beak sharp and prominent. Open 

 woods, Que. and N. S. to Mass, and N. Y. ; com- 

 mon northw., rare southw. June, July. FIG. 

 452. C. novae- ^ 



100. C. pennsylvdnica Lam. Strongly stolonife- 453 c 

 rous, the small tufts with reddish bases and usually with persist- By i V anica 

 ent brush-like tufts of fibers ; leaves 1.5-3.5 mm. broad, shorter than, 



equaling or often exceeding the slender culms (0.5-4 dm. high); pistillate spikes 

 1-4, globose or ovoid, approximate or remote, the lowest often leafy-bracted : 



