Genus 18. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



401 



122. Carex digitalis Willd. Slender Wood Sedge. Fig. 989. 



Carex digitalis Willd. Sp. PI. 4 : 298. 1805. 



Glabrous, bright green, not at all glaucous, culms 

 weak, slender, smooth, usually reclining, 4/-18' long. 

 Leaves flat, i"-2i" wide, usually longer than the culm; 

 bracts similar, the second exceeding the culm ; staminate 

 spike stalked; pistillate spikes 2-4, linear, loosely alter- 

 nately 3-12-flowered, 5-15" long, the upper nearly ses- 

 sile, the others filiform-stalked and widely spreading or 

 drooping; perigynia ovoid-oblong, sharply triangular, 

 many-nerved, brown when ripe, narrowed at both ends, 

 scarcely ii" long, more than i" thick, the very short 

 beak slightly oblique; scales lanceolate or ovate-lanceo- 

 late, scarious-margined, acute, acuminate pr short- 

 awned, shorter than or the lower about equalling the 

 perigynia ; stigmas 3. 



In woods and thickets, Maine and southern Ontario to 

 Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. Ascends to 3000 

 ft. in Virginia. May-July. 



123. Carex laxiculmis Schwein. Spreading Sedge. Fig. 990. 



Carex laxiculmis Schwein. Ann. Lye. N. Y. i : 70. 18: 

 Carex retrocurva Dewey, Wood's Bot. 423. 1845. 

 Carex digitalis copulata Bailey, Mem. Torr. Club 1 : 47. 



1S89. 



Glabrous, varying from strongly glaucous to deep 

 green, culms filiform, smooth or very nearly so, ascend- 

 ing or diffuse, 6'-2° long. Sterile culm-leaves elongated, 

 2"-6" wide, those of fertile culms shorter than the 

 culms; bracts similar, usually short; staminate spike 

 long-stalked ; pistillate spikes 2-4, oblong, rather loosely 

 5-10-flowered, 3"-6" long, about 2" thick, drooping on 

 long hair-like stalks or the upper short-stalked and 

 erect; perigynia broadly ovoid-oblong, sharply 3-angled, 

 many-nerved, ii"-2" long and rather more than i" 

 thick, narrowed at both ends, but scarcely beaked, longer 

 than the ovate, green, cuspidate or short-awned scales ; 

 stigmas 3. 



In woods and thickets, Maine to southern Ontario, Mich- 

 igan, Virginia and Missouri. Ascends to 5600 ft. in Vir- 

 ginia. May-June. 



124. Carex albursina Sheldon. White Bear Sedge. Fig. 991. 



Carex laxiflora var. latifolia Boott, 111. 38. -1858. Not C. 



latifolia Moench, 1794. 

 Carex albursina Sheldon, Bull. Torr. Club 20: 284. 1893. 



Glabrous, rather deep green, culms nearly smooth, 

 strongly flattened and winged, erect or spreading, 8'-2° 

 high. Basal leaves shorter than the culm, 3i"-ii' wide; 

 bracts similar to the narrower culm-leaves, the upper 

 strongly overtopping the spikes, sheaths loose ; staminate 

 spike sessile or nearly so, the scales obtuse; pistillate 

 spikes 2-4, distant and narrowly linear, stalked, or the 

 upper sessile and close together, i'-ii' long, loosely 

 flowered ; perigynia obovoid, obtusely 3-angled, many- 

 nerved, I "-2" long. 1" thick, tipped with a very short 

 bent entire beak; scales broadly oblong, widely scarious- 

 margined, very truncate or the lower rarely short-awned, 

 shorter than the perigynia ; stigmas 3. 



In woods, Quebec to Minnesota, south to Virginia, Ten- 

 nessee and southern Missouri. Ascends to 2300 ft. in Vir- 

 ginia. June-Aug. The specific name is in allusion to White 

 Bear Lake, Minn. 



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