Carex. 



CYPERACEiE. 



373 



B. Spikelets aggregated, androgynous, sessile. Stigmas 2. 



* Spikelets sterile at the summit. 



7. Carex disperma, Dew. Two-seeded Sedge. 



Spikelets mostly 3, rather remote, usually 2-flowered, the lowest one bracteate ; perigynium 

 ovate, rather obtuse, nerved, plano-convex, rough on the margin, entire at the point, twice as 

 long as the ovale-carinate somewhat mucronate scale. — Dew. Car. I. c. 8. p. 266. t. A.f. 3 ; 

 Schwein. cj- Torr. I. c. p. 303 ; Beck, bol. p. 432 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 405. 



Culm 6-12 inches high, triquetrous, rough above, leafy below. Leaves narrow, mostly 

 shorter than the culm. Spikes sometimes 2, rarely 4, mostly with only 2 fertile flowers. 

 Bract of the lowest spikes often with a long slender point. Sterile scales lanceolate, whitish ; 

 the fertile broadly ovate, scarious, rather obtuse. Perigynium small, slightly narrowed above 

 but scarcely acute, with a sharp rough margin, tumid in front, a little spreading. 



Sphagnous swamps ; frequent on mountains. Fl. June. Fr. July. Dr. Boott thinks this 

 6pecies is hardly distinct from C. loliacea of Europe. 



8. Carex chordorhiza, Ehrh. Long-rooted Sedge. 



Culm compressed-terete ; spikelets in an ovoid head ; perigynium ovate, acuminate, striate, 

 slightly 2-toolhed at the point, a little longer than the ovate acute scale. — " Ehrh. phyt. no. 

 11 ;" Schk. Car. t. Ii. /. 31 ; Gray, Gram. § Cyp. part 2. no. 143 ; Torr. Cyp. p. 388 ; 

 Kunth, enum. 2. p. 369 ; Boott in Hook. fl. Bor. Am. 2. p. 211. 



Rhizoma creeping and branching in sphagnum, throwing up slender culms which are 6 — 12 

 inches high. Leaves of the culm short, appressed ; those of the sterile shoots much longer. 

 Cluster or head of spikelets about three fourths of an inch long, with a short ovate-subulate 

 bract at the base. Scales concave, appressed, brown. Perigynium plano-convex, very tumid 

 in front, thick and somewhat spongy, smooth. Achenium obovate, compressed, obtuse, 

 puncticulate, crowned with the rigid style. 



Sphagnous swamps. Oneida county {Dr. Gray and Dr. Knieskern). Fl. May. Fr. June. 

 A native also of the northern parts of Europe. 



9. Carex cephalophora, Muhl. Oval-headed Sedge. 



Culm triangular with convex sides, rough on the angles near the summit ; spikelets ag- 

 gregated in an oval head ; perigynium ovate, compressed, acute, the margin rough towards 

 the summit, about as long as the ovale mucronate or somewhat awned scale. — Muhl. in Willd. 

 sp. 4. p. 220 ; Schk. Car. t. Hhh. /. 153 ; Muhl. gram. p. 118 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 516 ; Dew. 

 Car. I. c. 9. p. 269 ; Schwein. $ Torr. I. c. p. 300 ; Beck, hot. p. 431 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. 

 p. 27 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 387. 



Whole plant pale green. Culm usually 1-2 feet high, naked except towards the base, 

 erect or reclining, rigid, striate. Spikelets collected into a dense head of a more or less 

 elliptical or ovoid shape, with one or two slender subulate bracts at the base. Scales carinate, 



