134 NEW YORK STATE >IUSEUM 



15. Carex tenuiflora Wahl. 



Stems 6-18' high, slender or capillary, erect or spreading, 

 mostly naked, smooth ; leaves smooth, flat and involute, i"-l* 

 wide, usually shorter than the culm ; spike capitate, silvery- green, 

 becoming whitish at maturity ; spikelets 2-1-, 3-5 flowered, 

 aggregated in an ovoid head, or rarely the lowest 2"-3" distant ; 

 bracts bristle-form, mostly shorter than the spike; perigynia 

 ovate oblong, thick, nerved, light- brown, beakless, nearly covered 

 by the ovate-oblong whitish scale. 



Stems tufted and branched at base, the shortest often firm and 

 erect, the longest flexile. 



The silvery- green spikelets collected in a head distinguish this 

 very rare or local species. It has been reported from Oneida and 

 St. Lawrence counties. June. 



16. Carex Dewey ana Schw. 



Stems l°-2° high, slender, erect or diffuse, smooth ; leaves 

 numerous, smooth, slightly rough-edged, I'-l^" wide, shorter 

 than the culm, pale green becoming yellowish with age ; spikes 

 9"-2' long, flexuous ; spikelets 2-4, the 2 or 3 upper ones approxi- 

 mate, the lowest distant or subdistant, 2-6 flowered, silvery- 

 green; bracts bristle-shaped or. filifoim, the 2 lower sometimes 

 exceeding the culm ; perigynia oblong-ovate, acuminate, obscurely 

 nerved, thin, 2" long, with a long, rough-margined, bidentate 

 beak ; scale thin, whitish, oblong-acuminate or rough awned, as 

 long as the perigynium. 



Woods and open places. Common. June. 



Easily recognized by the somewhat bristly aspect of the soft 

 silvery spikelets and the somewhat drooping or flexuous character 

 of the spike. 



17. Carex canescens X. 



Stems 15-30' high, erect, rough above the middle; leaves 

 glaucous, smooth, the margins rough, 1"-!^" wide, the extremities 

 filiform, shorter than the culm, or the radical ones sometimes 

 exceeding it ; spikes l^'-3' long ; spikelets 4-8, densely 10 to 30 

 flowered, ovoid or globose, the 2 or 3 upper ones approximate, 

 the others 3"-12" apart, all more or less contracted at the base^ 

 silvery-green ; bracts scale-like, sometimes with a bristle-shaped 



