Carex. 



CYPERACEjE. 



407 



Fertile spikes mostly 3, sometimes 4, usually remote, but the upper two often somewhat 

 approximated, 3 - 6-fiowered ; the flowers distant. Scale pale with a green keel, often ex- 

 ceeding the perigynium ; the point rough. Perigynia 2 (in the var. 2\) lines long, distinctly 

 striate. Achenium obovoid-triquetrous, smooth. Style stout. 



Woods ; northern and western counties. F I. May. Fr. June. The smaller form of the 

 plant is rare in the Norlhern States, but is common in Kentucky and Ohio. Dr. Gray has 

 ascertained that it is the true C. oligocarpa of Schkuhr and Willdenow, but the figure of the 

 former does not represent it very accurately. 



80. Carex tetanica, Schk. Crooked-necked Sedge. 



Sterile spike solitary, pedunculate ; fertile spikes 2-3, oblong-cylindrical, loosely flowered, 

 remote, the lowest on an elongated peduncle ; perigynium obovoid, smooth, many-nerved, 

 the apex recurved and entire, shorter lhan the ovate acute or mucronate scale. — Schk. Car. 2. 

 p. 68. t. Oooo. /. 207 ; Dew. Car. I. c. 11. p. 312, and 19. t. N. /. 49, not of Schwein. 

 Torr. ; Torr. Cyp. p. 414. 



Culm 6-10 inches high, slender, erect, triquetrous. Leaves about a line wide, light green, 

 longer than the culm. Sterile spike three fourths of an inch long, on a slender peduncle ; the 

 scales oblong, obtuse, reddish brown with a green keel. Fertile spikes 6-8 lines long ; the 

 lowest usually very remote. Scales broadly ovate ; the lowest distinctly mucronate ; the upper 

 merely acute, purplish brown with a green keel. Perigynia one and a half line long, some- 

 what spreading and often a little recurved, smooth, acute at each end in the young state, 

 obovoid when mature. Achenium obovoid, triquetrous, smooth. Style continuous. 



Wet meadows : rare. Western part of the State. Fl. May. Fr. June. 



81. Carex anceps, Willd. Tivo-edged Sedge. 



Sterile spike solitary, pedunculate ; fertile mostly 3, slender, remote, loosely flowered ; 

 peduncles of the lower ones exserted, of the upper included ; perigynium oval, obtusely 

 triangular, smooth, acute, striate, the point oblique and somewhat recurved, with the orifice 

 entire, mostly shorter than the ovate mucronate or acute scale. — Willd. sp. 4. p. 278; Schk. 

 Car. t. Fff. /. 128 ; Dew. Car. I. c. 10. p. 36, and 19. t. N. /. 47 ; Schwein. <§■ Torr. I. c. 

 p. 343 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 37 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 455. C. plantaginea, Schk. Car. 

 t. Kkkk. /. 195; Muhl. gram. p. 235 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 547. C. heterosperma, Wahl. act. 

 Holm. 1803. p. 151. 



Culm 12-15 inches high, triquetrous, often compressed and somewhat 2-edged above, 

 rough, leafy. Radical leaves broad (sometimes an inch or more), with strong longitudinal 

 nerves, somewhat glaucous, generally remaining green through the winter : culm-leaves nar- 

 rower, from two lines to nearly half an inch long. Sterile spike oblong ; the peduncle variable 

 in length, often short : scales oblong, rather obtuse. Fertile spikes 2 - 5, erect, an inch long, 

 slender ; the flowers alternate on a flcxuous rachis. Peduncles 2-edged. Scales more or less 



