372 



CYPERACEjE. 



Carex. 



5. Carex Willdenovii, Schk. Willdenow s Sedge. 



Spike simple; sterile portion above, cylindrical, 6- 12-flowered , the scales closely im- 

 bricated ; fertile flowers 3 - 8 ; scales foliaceous, the lowest one with a subulate tip which is 

 often longer than the spike ; perigynium ovoid-oblong, acuminate-rostrate, the beak serrulate 

 on the margin ; stigmas pubescent ; achenium oblong, triangular, finely striate. — Schh. Car. 

 t. Minm./, 145 ; Willd. sp. 4. p. 211 ; Muhl. gram. p. 230 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 527 ; Dew. Car. 

 I. c. 11. p. 311 ; Schw. $ Torr. I. c. l.p. 295 ; Beck, hot. p. 431 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 480. 



Culms (or rather peduncles) 3-10 inches high, slender, triquetrous. Leaves flat, 1-2 

 lines wide, overtopping the culm. Spikes usually 3-4 from each root, on nearly radical 

 peduncles, about three quarters of an inch long ; the sterile portion slender and rather acute, 

 with obtuse scales which are whitish on the margin : fertile flowers usually 4 or 5. Style 

 articulated at the base : stigmas 3. Perigynium membranaceous ; the beak as long as the 

 body and very slender, a little notched at the tip. Achenium pale straw-color, distinctly 

 triangular, striate with dotted lines. 



Moist shady places, Penn-Yan (Dr. Sartwell). Fl. May. Fr. June. I have received 

 from T. G. Lea, Esq. of Cincinnati, a specimen of this plant in an anomalous state. On the 

 principal culm or peduncle, the lowest flower of the spike is somewhat distant from the others, 

 and from the orifice of its perigynium there protrudes a slender stalk. This supports a second 

 and smaller androgynous spike, consisting of two fertile and three sterile flowers. A some- 

 what similar structure has been noticed in C. phyllostachys of C. A. Meyer (See Torr. Cyp. 

 p. 404). 



6. Carex Backii, Boott. Back's Sedge. 



Spike simple ; sterile flowers above, about 3 , the fertile 2 - 4 ; fertile scales foliaceous , 

 the lower ones much longer than the spike ; stigmas smooth ; perigynium globose -ovoid, 

 acuminated with a conical smooth beak, entire at the point ; achenium globose -pyriform, 

 nearly smooth. — Boott in Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 210. t. 209. C. Willdenovii, Gray, 

 Gram. <§• Cyp. part 2. no. 139 (in part). 



Culms cespitose. Leaves grass-like, about 2 lines long, longer than the culms, rough on 

 the margin. Culms (or rather peduncles) 3-4 from each shoot ; the longest from 3 to 10 

 inches high ; the others 1-3 inches, slender, triquetrous, rough on the angles. Spikes 

 ripening at different times ; the sterile portion at the summit, consisting of only two or three 

 minute flowers, with obtuse clasping scales : fertile usually 3. Style articulated : stigmas 

 rather thick and short, quite smooth. Perigynium rather more than two lines long, smooth, 

 membranaceous, slighily margined, with 2 prominent ribs ; the beak rather broad at the base. 

 Achenium rounded at the summit, obscurely 3-sided, abruptly contracted at the base. 



Walertown, Jefferson county (Dr. Crawe). Nearly allied to the preceding, but distinguished 

 by its few sterile flowers, more globose perigynium, smooth beak, stigmas and achenium, as 

 well as the broader and usually much longer foliaceous scales. 



