CTPERACEiE. (sEDGE FAMILY.) 527 



Jiliform nodding stalks ; bracts exceeding the culm, with short or nearly obsolete 

 sheaths ; perigynia ovoid-triangular, rery smooth and thin, with an entire or very 

 minutely notched orifice, longer than the ovate short-awned white scale. ( C. 

 prasina, Wahl.) — Rills and wet meadows ; rather common. — In aspect some- 

 what resembles'the smaller shortawned forms of No. .51, with which it has points 

 of affinity, though differing materially in the 3 stigmas and triangular fruit. 



92. C. scabrata^ Schw. Fertile spikes 4-5, cylindrical, erect, rather 

 distant, densely flowered, the lower on long stalks ; bracts without sheaths, exceed- 

 ing the culm ; perigynia ovoid, contracted at the base, prominently few-nerved, 

 rough, spreading at maturity, with an obliquely notched beak, longer than the 

 ovate slightly ciliate brown scale; culm, leaves, and bracts very rough. — Wet 

 meadows and swamps. New England to Penn., Michigan, and northward. 



93. C. Sullivantii, Boott. Fertile spikes 3-5, commonly 4, narrowly cy 

 lindrical, erect, loosely flowered, the upper approximate, the lowest often remote, 

 tapering towards the base and slightly compound, all on rough stalks ; bracts 

 sheathing, not exceeding the hairy culm ; perigynia elliptical, haiiy, slightly 

 stalked, with an entire or notched orifice, rather longer than the ovate hairy- 

 fringed rough-awned white scale. — Woods, Columbus, Ohio, Sullivant. — About 

 2° high, with hairy leaves and bracts, and slender fertile spikes I'-lJ' long. 

 Resembles the next, but is at once distinguished by the erect spikes, hairy and 

 nerveless fruit, and hairy leaves. 



§ 8. Perigynia slightly inflated, 3-angled, smooth and shining, green, with a straight 

 tapering beak terminating in 2 small membranaceous teeth (nearly obsolete 

 in No. 96) : lower bracts green and sheathing : pistillate scales tawny, becom- 

 ing white : staminate spike solitary, stalked : pistillate spikes 3-4, loosely flow- 

 ered, all on long and filiform nodding stalks. 



# Fertile spikes long and slender, remote : perigynia few-nerved : bracts equalling or 



exceeding the culm. — Debiles. 



94. C. ai'Ctata, Boott. Fertile spikes few-flowered and narrowed towards 

 ike base ; perigynia ovoid-elliptical, triaTigular, short-stalked, rather blunt at tlie base, 

 the beak very short, longer than the pointed scale. (C. sylvatica. Dew., not of 

 Hudson. C. Knieskeniii, Dew.) — Woods and meadows, New England to Penn- 

 sylvania, and northward. 



95. C. debHiS, Miohx. Staminate spike occasionally fertile at the apex ; 

 fertile spikes with loose altei-nate flowers, on a somewhat zigzag rhachis ; perigynia ob- 

 long, tapering at each end, twice as long as the ovate-lanceolate awned scale. (C. 

 tenuis, Budge. C. flexuosa, Muhl.) — Moist meadows, N. New England to 

 Pennsylvania, and southwestward. 



* * Fertile spikes short : perigynia nerveless, or very obscurely nerved in No. 97 ; 



bracts erect, shorter than the culm. — Flexiles. 



96. C. capillalis, L. Feiiile splices commonly 3, ininute, with about 6 alter 

 note flowers; perigynia oblong-ovoid, contracted at the base, tapering into a long slight- 

 hi serrulate beak, with an oblique nearly entire orifice, longer than the ovate scale. 



Point de Tour, Lake Michigan ; alpine summits of the White Mountains, 



New Hampshire, and high northward. — An exti-emely delicate species, 4' -6' 

 Uigli, with spikes i'-^' long, and a line or less in width. (Eu.) 



