Genus 18. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



50. Carex elachycarpa Fernald. Aroostook 

 Sedge. Fig. 917. 



C. elachycarpa Fernald, Proc. Am. Acad. 37: 492. 1902. 



Kobresia elachycarpa Fernald, Rhodora 5: 251. 1903. 



Densely caespitose, culms slender, stiff, 6'-i8' high, - 

 roughened on the angles above. Leaves 4"-il" wide, 

 flat or slightly involute, shorter than culm; head i'-i' 

 long, narrow, of 2-6 approximate spikes, the terminal 

 linear, staminate or gynaecandrous, the lateral subor- 

 bicular, s"~3" long, gynaecandrous or pistillate, with 

 7-15 perigynia ; bracts not developed ; young perigynia 

 lanceolate, plano-convex, 1" long, few-nerved, rounded 

 at base, tapering into a rough, minutely bidentate beak, 

 i length of body, the walls fragile, early ruptured by 

 maturing achene elongating; scales ovate, acute, brown, 

 concealing perigynia; achene yellow, nearly 1" long, i" 

 wide, tipped by persistent style ; stigmas 2. 



Gravelly beaches of Aroostook River, Fort Fairfield, 

 Maine. July. A critical species. 



51. Carex interior Bailey. Inland Sedge. Fig. 918. 



Carex interior Bailey, Bull. Torr. Club 20: 426. 1893. 



Similar to C. Leersii, culms caespitose, very slender, 

 wiry, rather stiff, erect, i°-2° tall, slightly roughened 

 above. Leaves 4"-l" wide, flat, shorter than the culm; 

 bracts very short or lowest occasionally developed ; 

 spikes 2-4, the lateral usually pistillate with 1-10 widely 

 spreading perigynia, nearly globular, somewhat sepa- 

 rated, 2" in diameter, the terminal one longer and 

 gynaecandrous or staminate; perigynia brownish at 

 maturity, plano-convex, ovate, broadest near base, ii" 

 long, about f" wide, faintly few-nerved on the outer 

 face, nearly nerveless on the inner, thickened, spongy 

 and rounded at base, contracted into a rough 2-toothed 

 beak one-fourth to one-third as long as the body, its 

 teeth very short, erect, the suture on inner side incon- 

 spicuous; scales ovate, usually very obtuse, much 

 shorter than the perigynia. 



Wet soil, eastern Quebec to Hudson Bay, British Colum- 

 bia, Florida and Arizona. May-July. 



Carex sterilis Willd. (C. scirpoides Schk.) differing by rough-edged perigynia tapering into a 

 very rough beak, and not much exceeding the obtusish scales, the plants often partly or wholly 

 dioecious, occurs from New York and New Jersey to Ontario and Indiana. 



52. Carex Howei Mackenzie. Howe's Sedge. 



C. interior capillacea Bailey, Bull. Torr. Club 20: 426. 1893. 



C. scirpoides capillacea Fernald, Rhodora 10: 47. 1908. 



C. delicatula Bicknell, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 495. 1908. 

 Not C. B. Clarke, 1908. 



C: Howei Mackenzie, Bull. Torr. Club 37: 245. 1910. 



Culms caespitose, capillary and slender, spreading, 

 6^-2° long, roughened above Leaves about ¥' wide, 

 usually involute, exceeding culms ; bracts short ; spikes 2- 

 4, the lateral usually pistillate with 1-10 widely spreading 

 perigynia, nearly globular, separated, 2" in diameter, the 

 terminal longer and gynaecandrous or staminate; peri- 

 gynia green or brownish at maturity, plano-convex, 

 ovate, broadest at base, ii" long, about \" wide, strongly 

 nerved on outer face, less on inner, spongy and rounded 

 at base, tapering into a rough 2-toothed beak about one- 

 third as long as the body, its teeth very short, erect, the 

 suture on inner side inconspicuous ; scales ovate, obtuse 

 to acutish, shorter than perigynia. 



Wet soil, Massachusetts and New Hampshire to New 

 York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. June-July. 



