Genus 18. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



37i 



32. Carex decomposita Muhl. Large-panicled Sedge. Fig. 899. 



Carex decomposita Muhl. Gram. 264. 1817. 



Dark green, culms smooth and very obtusely 

 angled or terete below, roughened above, rather stout, 

 erect, ii°-3° tall. Leaves 2"-^" wide, rough, rather 

 stiff, longer or shorter than the culm, equitant at the 

 base; spikes brownish, staminate above, small and 

 very numerous in a terminal decompound cluster 

 2'-6' long, the lower branches ascending and i'-2' 

 long; bracts subulate or wanting; perigynia short- 

 obovoid, i"-ii" long, somewhat shining, dark brown, 

 thick and hard, strongly rounded and strongly nerved 

 on outer surface, slightly rounded and faintly nerved 

 on inner surface, very narrowly margined, tapering 

 at base, very abruptly tipped with a very short slightly 

 2-toothed beak; scales ovate, scarious-margined, 

 nearly equalling the perigynia ; stigmas 2. 



In swamps, New York to Ohio and Michigan, south to 

 Florida and Louisiana. May-Aug. 



33. Carex stipata Muhl. Awl-fruited Sedge. Fig. 900. 



Carex stipata Muhl.; Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 233. 1805. 



Culms erect or nearly so, sharply 3-angled before dry- 

 ing, slightly winged and strongly serrulate above, 1°-^ 

 tall. Leaves flat, 2"-^' wide, usually shorter than the 

 culm, the sheaths strongly transversely rugulose; bracts 

 short, bristle-form or wanting; spikes numerous, an- 

 drogynous, yellowish brown, crowded into a terminal 

 oblong head i'~4' long, the lowest sometimes branched ; 

 perigynia lanceolate, strongly nerved, rounded and 

 spongy at base, • short-stipitate, 2"-2\" long, about 1" 

 wide at the base, gradually tapering into a rough flat- 

 tened 2-toothed beak 1-2 times as long as the body, 

 giving the clusters a peculiarly bristly aspect ; scales 

 ovate or lanceolate, thin, hyaline, acuminate, much 

 shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 2. 



In swamps and wet meadows, Newfoundland to British 

 Columbia, Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, New Mexico and 

 California. Ascends to 4200 ft. in Virginia. May-July. 



C. laevivaginata (Kiiken.) Mackenzie, ranging from 

 Maryland to North Carolina, differs in sheaths not trans- 

 versely rugulose and thickened at the mouth. 



34. Carex crus-corvi Shuttlw. Raven's-foot 

 Sedge. Fig. 901. 



Carex Crus-corvi Shuttlw.; Kunze, Riedg. Suppl. 128. pi. 



32. 1844. 

 C. sicaeformis Boott, Journ. Bost. Nat. Hist. Soc. 5: 113. 



1845. 

 Oarex Halei Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. (II.) 2: 248. 1846. 



Pale green, culms in clumps, stout, 3-angled, very 

 rough above, erect, 2°-4° tall. Leaves flat, 2V-6" wide, 

 rough-margined, usually shorter than the culm, the 

 sheaths conspicuously reddish dotted; spikes yellowish 

 brown, staminate above, very numerous in a large com- 

 pound branching terminal cluster 4'-i2' long, 1-3' 

 thick; perigynia elongated-lanceolate, stipitate, strongly 

 nerved, ij"-4i" long, strongly spongy and with a short 

 hard disk-like base and a subulate rough 2-toothed beak 

 3 to 4 times as long as the body; scales ovate or lanceo- 

 late, thin, much shorter than perigynia; stigmas 2. 



In swamps, Indiana to southern Minnesota and Ne- 

 braska, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. May-July. 



