cyperace^e. (sedge family.) 579 



+-«■ ++ Spikes androgynous. 



36. C. Stelllll&ta, L. Spikes 3-5, the uppermost much contracted at the 

 base by the numerous staminate flowers; perigynia ovate or slightly heart- 

 shaped at the base, which has thickish or obtuse margins, the apex more mi- 

 nutely toothed ; scales rather blunt and considerably shorter ; leaves flatter and 

 pale : otherwise nearly as in the last. — Lake Superior and northward. (Eu.) 



Var. scirpoides. Culms slender and weak (9' -20'); leaves very narrow ; 

 spikes contiguous, smaller; perigynia with a rounded or truncate base, plano- 

 convex, almost twice the length of the obtuse scale. (C. scirpoides, Schk.) — 

 Wet places : common. 



Var. angustata, is remarkable for the narrow lanceolate perigynia more 

 than twice the length of the blunt scale and oblong achenium : otherwise as in 

 var. scirpoides. — Fairfield, New York. 



+- -*- Spikes rather large: perigynia thickened and spongy on the angles, with a more 

 or less dilated membranaceous margin or wing. — Ovales. 



37. C. 8ychnOC6ph.ala, Carey. Spikes densely clustered, forming a short 

 compound spiked head, subtended by 3 very long and unequal persistent leafy bracts ; 

 perigynia tapering from an abruptly contracted ovate base into a long slender beak, 

 somewhat exceeding the lanceolate abruptly mucronate scale. (C. cyperoides, 

 Dew., not of L.) — Jefferson County ( Vasey & Knieskern) and Little Falls, New 

 York, Vasey. — Different in habit from the rest of this section; recognized at 

 once by the ovoid compound spike, subtended by long leafy bracts, by which 

 the lower spikes are partly concealed. 



38. C. arida, Schw. & Torr. Spikes 8-10, approximate (§' long), oblong- 

 cylindrical, contracted at each end; perigynia narrowly lanceolate (4-5 lines in 

 length), tapering into a long beak more than twice the length of the ovate-lanceolate 

 scale; achenium sessile, narrowly oblong. (C. Muskingumensis, Schw.) — Wet 

 meadows, Ohio to Wisconsin and Kentucky. — In characters scarcely distin- 

 guished from the next, but strikingly different in appearance ; much larger, with 

 long, dry, and chaffy-looking spikes. 



39. C. SCOparia, Schk. Spikes 5-8, club-shaped, at length ovate, more or 

 less approximate, sometimes forming a dense head ; perigynia elliptical-lanceolate, 

 tapering into a long slender beak, longer than the lanceolate pointed scale; achenium 

 distinctly stalked, exactly oval. — Low meadows : everywhere common. — Spikes 

 brownish or straw-colored when ripe. — Var. minor, Boott. Spikes more rusty, 

 smaller, contiguous ; perigynia narrowly lanceolate. — Base of White Moun- 

 tains, New Hampshire, and northward. 



40. C. lagopodioides, Schk. Spikes 10-15 or more, approximate, or 

 the lower more separated ; perigynia lanceolate, nearly twice the length of the ovate- 

 oblong rather pointed scale; achenium narrowly oval, on a short stalk ; leaves very 

 tapering to the apex ; their sheaths loose, enlarging upwards, sharp-edged. — 

 Moist, rather shady places : common. 



41. C. cristata, Schw. Spikes smaller, 8-12 closely aggregated, globular, 

 greenish; perigynia oblong or ovate, recurved at maturity ; scales obtuse •; otherwise 

 as in the last, of which in former editions it was taken for a variety. — Wet or 

 moist ground : common. 



