KEPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 127 



appressed branches, or the 2 lower sometimes distinct; bracts 

 scale-like, acuminate, the lowest bristle pointed ; perigynia stipi- 

 tate, somewhat thick and corky, ovate, faintly nerved at the 

 truncate base, dark brown and shining, tapering above into a 

 slender, bifid, greenish beak, nearly covered by the ovate aoute 

 brown scale. 



The small, short-stalked, ovate, acuminate, shining perigynia, 

 as well as the short, appressed branches of the narrow panicle 

 distinguish this species. Not rare in swampy fields. June. 



Yar. ramosa Boott. Head longer and somewhat ' nodding, 

 spikelets compound, sometimes on appressed branches, looser or 

 more scattered. Albany county. 



4. Carex decomposita 3£uhl. 



Stems 20-36' high, flaccid, erect or spreading, smooth ; leaves 

 exceeding the culm, stitf, channeled below, 2"-3" wide, rough- 

 margined, filiform at the end ; spike decompound, 2-5' long, 

 dark or sometimes blackish-brown when mature ; spikelets 

 numerous on spreading branches, the lower of which are distinct 

 or sometimes separated i'-^' or more and l'-2' long, those above 

 shorter and less distant, gradually' tapering to the dense apex; 

 bracts of the long branches green and filiform, the others scale- 

 like and awn-pointed ; perigynia sessile, thick, corky, rounded or 

 obovate, biconvex, nerved on both sides, dark-brown and shining, 

 abruptly contracted into a short bifid beak ; scale thin, ovate, 

 pointed or cuspidate, tawny or brownish. 



This s(pecies differs from others of similar growth in its thick, 

 nearly round stem, in its stiff, long, slender-pointed leaves, and 

 especially in its panicled spikelets. 



Swamps. July. Very rare or local. Yates and Seneca 

 counties. Paine's Catalogue. 



5. Carex vulpinoidea Mx. 

 Stems H°^2i° high, firm and erect, acutely angled and rough 

 above the smooth terete base; leaves rough-margined, W-'i," 

 wide, slender-pointed and often surpassing the culm ; spike V-i' 

 long, dull brown or sometimes with a [tinge of green ; spikelets 

 clustered on branches 3"-9" long, usually densely aggregated 

 above, in the lower half the clusters are mostly o'-b" apart; 



