CYPERACE.E. (SEDGE FAMILY.) 505 



12. C. canescens, L, var. vitilis, Carey. Spikes 5-7, small, scat- 

 tered, roundish, 6- 10-flowcred ; perigynia ovate, plano-convex, short and rough- 

 beaked, spreading and tawny at maturity, rather longer than the ovate acute 

 white scale. (C. sphacrostachya, Dew.) — High mountains of North Carolina, 

 and northward. — Culms weak and slender, 10'- 15' high, longer than the nar- 

 row and tender leaves. 



13. C. SCOparia, Schk. Spikes 6-8, approximate, ovate or oblong, many- 

 flowered ; perigynia oblong-lanceolate, narrowly margined, acute at the base, ta- 

 pering into a long 2-cleft rough beak, longer than the ovate-lanceolate pointed 

 scale, turning light brown at maturity. — Swamps, South Carolina, and north- 

 ward — Culms l°-2° high, rough above, longer than the narrow leaves. 



Var. lagopodioides. Spikes 10-15, obovoid ; perigynia lanceolate, re- 

 maining pale green at maturity, nearly twice as long as the rather obtuse scale. 

 (C. lagopodioides, Schk.) — Mountains of North Carolina, and northward. *■*■ 

 Culms commonly taller than the preceding. 



14. C. Straminea, Schk. Spikes 3-6, distinct, ovoid; perigynia ovate 

 or round-ovate, broadly winged, abruptly narrowed into a short 2-cleft beak, 

 somewhat tawny and spreading at maturity, longer than the ovate lanceolate 

 scale. 



Var. festucacea. Spikes 6-8, pale, obovoid or somewhat club-shaped, 

 scattered ; perigynia ovate, less broadly margined, tapering into a more slender 

 beak, erect and pale green at maturity. (C. festucacea, Schk. C. foenea, Torr., 

 j5'c, a form with more rigid culms, and more crowded and glaucous spikes.) — 

 Swamps, very common. — Culms 1°- 2° high. Leaves narrowly linear, shorter 

 than the culm. 



15. C. foenea, Muhl. Spikes 6-10, large (6" -8" long), ovoid, approxi- 

 mate ; perigynia fiat, broadly obovate, wing-margined, abruptly contracted into a 

 very short beak, longer than the lanceolate scale; nut oval, stalked. (C. alata, 

 Torr. ) — Marshes, Florida to North Carolina. — Culms 2° - 3° high, leafy below 

 the middle. Spikes brownish at maturity. Perigynia 2|" long. 



B. Terminal spikes sterile: the others fertile or with Jew sterile flowers at the summit: 



perigynia bealdess. 

 * Scales awnless, black or brown : bracts scarcely exceeding the culm : leaves narrowly 



linear, glaucous. 



16. C. torta, Boott. Sterile spike solitary, peduncled ; fertile spikes mostly 

 3, linear-club-shaped, loosely flowered below, spreading, the lowest peduncled ; 

 perigynia elliptical, tapering and at length spreading or recurved at the apex, 

 nerveless or nearly so, as long as the oblong black scale ; culms smooth (1° high) ; 

 leaves narrowly linear. (C. verrucosa, Schw., not of Ell.) — Mountain swamps, 

 North Carolina, and northward. 



17. C. stricta, Good. Sterile spikes 1 - 2 ; fertile spikes 2-4, linear-cylin- 

 drical, Bessile or the lowest short-peduncled, erect, dense-flowered; perigynia 

 elliptical, erect, nerveless, commonly shorter than the narrow obtuse reddish- 

 brown scale ; calms (2° high) rough-angled ; 'leaves linear. (C. acuta, Ell., frc, 

 not of Linnuius.) — Swamps in the upper districts, and northward. 



