CYPERACE^. (sedge FAMILY.) 577 



Var. eil6rvis, Boott. Scales sometimes pointless ; perigynia nearly or wholly 

 nerveless ; spikes often bractless. — Hudson River, New Yorli, J. L. Russell. — 

 Distinguished from C. cephaloidea by its rigid culm, narrower leaves, and 

 firmer perigynium, spongy at the base. 



25. C. rdsea, Schls. Spikes 4-8, the 2 uppermost approximate, the others all 

 distinct, and the lowest often remote ; perigynia oblong (about 8-10 in each spike), 

 narrow at the base, widely diverging at maturity, ttvice as long as the broadly 

 ovate obtuse scale. — Var. minor, Boott, has the 4-6 spikes smaller and more 

 separated, the scales less obtuse and with a rough mucronate point ; perigynia 

 more erect; leaves narrower. — Var. eadiAta, Dew, is still more slender, 

 almost capillary, and has only 3 or 4 remote and 3-4-flowered spikes. (C. 

 negl&ta, Tuckenn.) — Moist woods and meadows : common. 



26. C. retrofl6xa, Muhl. Spikes 3 -6, all approximate, the 1 - 2 lowest dis- 

 tinct but not remote ; perigynia (about 5 - 7 in each spike) ovate, or ovate-lanceo- 

 late, smooth on the margin and beak, not much exceeding the ovate-lanceolate pointed 

 scale, widely spreading or reflexed at maturity. (C. rosea, var. retroflexa, Torr., 

 Cyp.) — Copses and moist meadows : less common than the last, from which it 

 is distinguished by the smaller approximate spikes, longer and shai-per scales, 

 and especially, from every species in this subsection, by the smooth perigynium. 



***** Perigynia plano-convex, without a beak, of a thick and leathery texture, 

 prominently nerved, smooth (except on the angles), with a minute and entire 

 or slightly notched white membranaceous point : achenium conformed to the peri- 

 gynium, crowned with the short thick style: bracts like the scales (brown), 

 the lowest with a prolonged point : rootstock creeping. — ChordokhIz^. 



27. C. chordorhiza, Ehrh. Culms branching from the long creeping root- 

 stock (4' -9' high), smooth and naked above, clothed at the base with short ap- 

 pressed leaves ; spikes in an ovoid head; perigynia ovate, a little longer than the 

 scale. — Cold bogs. New York to Wisconsin, and northward. (Eu.) 



28. C. ten^Ua, Schk. Spikes 2-6, very small, rather remote, or the upper 

 approximate, with 2 or 3, rarely i, fertile flowers ; perigynia ovate, twice as long 

 as the scale. (C. loliacea, Schk. suppl., not of Z. C. disperma. Dew. C. grar 

 cilis, Ed. 1, not of Ehrh.) — Cold swamps. New England to Penn., Wisconsin, 

 and northward. — A slender species, 6'- 12' high, with long grassy leaves, 

 growing in loose tufts. (Eu.) 



§ 3. Spikes pistillate above, staminate at the base. 



* Spikes roundish-ovoid, rather small, more or less distant on the zigzag axis (closely 

 aggregated in No. 30) : perigynia plano-convex, smooth, pale green, becoming 

 whitish or silvery : scales white and membranaceous ; the bracts resembling 

 them, or prolonged and bristle-shaped. — Canescentes. 



■t- Perigynia mostly somewhat thickened and leathery, distinctly nerved, and with a 

 smooth or minutely serrulate short point, entire or slightly notched at the apex. 



29. C. trisp^rma, Dew. Spikes 2-3, very small, with about Sfrtile flow- 

 ers, remote, the lowest with a long bract ; perigynia oblong, with numerous slender 

 nerves, longer than the scale. — Cold swamps and woods, especially on moun- 

 tains. New England to Penn., Michigan, and northward. — Resembling the last, 

 but larger spikes and fruit, and weak spreading culms, l°-2° long. 



37 



