5#4 



CTPERACE^E. (SEDGE FAM1 



* * Fertile spikes short; perigynia nerveless: bracts short. — Flexiles. 



109. C. capillaris, L. Fertile spikes commonly 3, minute, with about 6 alter' 

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

 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 extremely delicate species, 4' -6' 

 high, with spikes 3"- 6'' long, and a line or less in width. (Eu.) 



HO. C. flexilis, Rudge. Sterile spike short and club-shaped; fertile spikes 

 oblong or sometimes with a few staminate flowers at the base and becoming 

 club-shaped; the upper bracts short and scale-like, the lower bristle-shaped, 

 very slightly sheathing ; perigynia ovoid, obscurely nerved, tapering into a 

 beak about the length of the ovate hairy -fringed scale; leaves pale green and 

 glaucous, and with the bracts soft-hairy. (C. blepharophora, Gray.) — Moist 

 and shady places, Connecticut (near Salisbury), Central and Northern New 

 York, Lake Superior, and Newfoundland : rare. 



§ 9. Perigynia slightly inflated, obtusely 3-ang/ed, nerved, smooth, tapering into a b&ik, 

 with two mostly distinct teeth, becoming tawny or yellow at maturity : achenium 

 obovate-triquetrous, contracted at the base ; staminate spike usually soli- 

 tary. — FiAv^;. 



* Perigynia erect, slender-beaked: spikes remote; the staminate one usually long- 



stalked: bracts not exceeding the culm, and with long sheaths. 



111. C. laevigata, Smith. Fertile spikes 3, cylindrical, on exserted nodding 

 stalks; perigynia ovoid, tapering into a2-cleft beak, rather longer than the light- 

 brown or purplish pointed and awned scale; culm smooth. (C. Greeniana, Dew.) 



— Massachusetts (Tewksbury ? B. D. Greene). Introduced? (Eu.) 



112. C. fuiva, Good. Fertile spikes 2-3, oblong or ovoid, erect, the lowest on 

 an exserted stalk ; perigynia ovoid, not much exceeding the- dark-brown scarcely 

 pointed awnless scale ; culm rough. (C. bine'rvis, Dew., not of Smith.) — Pond at 

 Tewksbury, Massachusetts, B. D. Greene: not since found. (Eu.) 



* * Perigynia ascending, short-beaked: spikes approximate or the lower remote ; the 



staminate one sessile or nearly so ; bracts much surpassing the culm ; the upper 

 nearly without xheaths. 



113. C extensa, Good. Fertile spikes 2-4. oblong, brown-green, very 

 dense (5"- 10" long), the upper nearly sessile, the lowest on a short included 

 stalk; perigynia ovate, the short conical beak sharply 2 toothed, longer than 

 the ovate pointed purple scale ; leaves and bracts long and narrow, involute, 

 erect, rigid ; culms tufted, 8' - 20' high. — Border of salt-marshes, coast of Long 

 Island, New York, Dr. T. F. Allen. (Eu.) 



#** Perigynia spreading or reflexed, longer than the scale: spikes mostly approxi- 

 mate or crowded ; the staminate mostly sessile or short-stalked, often fertile at the 

 apex or middle; the fertile (2 - 4) erect all or all but the lowest short-stalked or 

 sessile : bracts much exceeding the smooth culm, their sheaths very short. 



114. C. flava, L. Fertile spikes 2, roundish-ovoid, dense, the upper approxi- 

 mated, the lowest often remote on a short exserted stalk ; bracts spreading or re- 

 fit xed; perigynia tapering from an ovoid contracted base into a slender recurved 



