536 CYPERACE^E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 



* * Scales awned, green : fertile spikes on nodding peduncles : bracts long and leaf- 

 like : leaves broadly linear. 



18. C. crinita, Lam. Sterile spikes mostly 2, often with fertile flowers 

 intermixed ; fertile spikes 3-4, long-cylindrical, dense-flowered, on long drooping 

 peduncles ; perigynia round-ovate or obovate, somewhat inflated, 2-nerved, ab- 

 ruptly short-pointed, shorter than the long and rough-awned scale ; culms rough- 

 angled above (2 -3 high). Swamps in the upper districts, and northward. 

 Spikes l'-3'long. 



19. C. Mitchelliana, M. A. Curtis. " Spikes in threes, peduncled, some- 

 what distant, oblong, slightly nodding ; terminal spike staminate at the base and 

 summit; the lowest peduncle scarcely sheathed; perigynia ovate, acute, gla- 

 brous ; scales oblong, the lowest with a long cusp much exceeding the fruit, the 

 upper about equalling it. Wet places, Chatham County, North Carolina." 

 Curtis. Culm slender, 18' high, rough above. Spikes 1' long. 



2. CAREX PROPER. Stigmas 3 : nut 3-angled. 



A. Spike solitary. 



* Dioecious. 



20. C. Boottiana, Benth. Culms slender, naked, rough, shorter than the 

 linear bright-green radical leaves; spikes (rarely 2) many-flowered, purplish, 

 cylindrical, erect ; fertile spike dense-flowered ; perigynium obovate, obtuse or 

 abruptly short-beaked, ciliate and 2-toothed at the orifice, nerved, pubescent, cili- 

 ate-toothed on the angles, shorter and narrower than the oblong-acute or abruptly 

 pointed purple scale. North Alabama, Peters, and westward. Culms 6'- 8' 

 long. Spikes 1 ' - 2' long. 



* * Monoecious. Spike sterile above, fertile below. 



21. C. polytrichoides, Muhl. Spike linear, few-flowered; perigynia 

 lanceolate-oblong, many-nerved, obtuse and entire at the apex, twice as long as 

 the oblong mucronate scale ; bract scale-like or occasionally leafy and exceeding 

 the spike; culms tufted, filiform, weak (6' -12' high), rough above, longer than 

 the very narrow leaves. Bogs and swamps, Florida, and northward. 



22. C. Praseri, Sims. Spike oblong, many-flowered, the fertile portion 

 globose ; perigynia ovoid, inflated, abruptly short-pointed, longer than the oblong 

 obtuse hyaline scale; leaves very wide (!' or more), obtuse, serrulate and wavy 

 on the margins, convolute below, and sheathing the base of the naked smooth 

 culm. Shady banks of streams on the mountains of North Carolina. Leaves 

 6'- 12' long, longer than the culm. 



23. C. Steudelii, Kunth. Spike linear (6 W -10" long); sterile flowers 

 20-25; perigynia 1-4, ovoid, smooth, 3-nerved, abruptly contracted into a 

 slender compressed rough-edged beak, longer than the ovate white green-keeled 

 scale ; leaves linear, flat, abruptly pointed, longer than the bristle-like prostrate 

 culms. Shady banks, Florida, and westward. Culms 3' -6' long. Plant 

 whitish. * 



24. C. Willdenovii, Schk. Sterile flowers 4-8, forming a minute linear 

 spike; perigynia 6 - 9, oblong, with 3 rough angles; lower scales longer than 



