Part 188 (1/2)

C. BULLaTA UTRICULaTA, Bailey. Perigynium considerably smaller and more spreading, less s.h.i.+ning; scales longer and sharper. (C. Olneyi, _Boott_.)--Providence, R. I. (_Olney_).

15. C. retrorsa, Schwein. Stout, 2--3 high; culm obtusely angled and smooth or nearly so; leaves broad and soft, roughish, much longer than the culm; spikes 3--5, approximate near the top of the culm or the lowest remote, all but the lowest 1 or 2 sessile, 1--2' long and very compactly flowered, erect or spreading; perigynium very thin and papery, much inflated, prominently nerved, strongly reflexed; scale very short and small.--Swamps, from Penn. northward; common.--In var. HaRTH, Gray, a common monstrous form, the spikes are more or less scattered and peduncled, loosely flowered, and the perigynium less reflexed or spreading.

[=][=] _Scales all rough-awned._

16. C. lurida, Wahl. Variable in size, mostly ranging from 1--3 high, stout; culm rather obtusely angled and smooth; leaves long and loose, rough; spikes 2--4, variously disposed, the 1 or 2 upper sessile, nearly erect or often drooping, very densely flowered; perigynium thin and turgid, often somewhat s.h.i.+ning, rather lightly about 10-nerved, very long and slenderly beaked, ascending; staminate spike single, scales linear, half as long as the perigynium or more. (C. tentaculata, _Muhl._)--Swamps, N. Eng. to S. Ill., and southward; abundant eastward.

Very variable.--Var. GRaCILIS, Bailey. Plant more slender; spikes 2--3, very small and narrowly cylindrical (1' long or less, and 3” broad or less). Mts. of Vt., Penn., and Tenn.

Var. flaccida, Bailey. Lower, scarcely exceeding 12--15' in height; spikes 2--4, all sessile and approximate at the top of the culm, small and straight (1' long or less), dull brown or reddish-brown, loosely flowered and entirely lacking the dense and comose appearance of the type; perigynium very thin and much inflated, the body usually larger than in the type and more gradually contracted into the beak.--N. Y. to N. J.; apparently scarce.

C. LuRIDA LUPULNA, Bailey. Very like C. lurida, but the spikes usually all approximate or only the lowest separated, erect or spreading, all sessile, green or greenish, often curved; perigynium very long-beaked and ascending; staminate spike one, sessile or very nearly so, strongly resembling that of C. lupulina. (C. tentaculata, var.

altior, _Boott_.)--Ma.s.s., Conn., and N. Y.; little known. C. lupulina retrorsa is distinguished from this by its yellow or straw-colored more scattered spikes which are shorter and always straight, and the loose, larger and more inflated perigynia.

[*] 1.--[+] 4. _Pseudocyperae._

[++] _Spikes all erect or ascending._

17. C. Schweinitzi, Dewey. Soft but erect, 1--2 high, stoloniferous, yellowish-green and becoming straw-colored in drying; culm flattish and smooth; leaves broad (3--4”), the radical longer than the culm, the others mostly short; spikes 3--4, the lower one or two short-peduncled, narrowly long-cylindrical (1--3' long, 4” broad); perigynium thin and somewhat inflated, prominently few-nerved, the long beak short-toothed, ascending; scale awned and commonly rough at the tip, a little shorter than the perigynium.--Swamps, W. New Eng. to N. J., and west to Mich.; local.

[++][++] _Spikes widely spreading or drooping._

18. C. hystricna, Muhl. Slender but erect, 1--2 high; culm very sharply angled and rough, at least above; leaves rather narrow, roughish; spikes 1--3, borne near the top of the culm, the upper one often sessile, the remainder on more or less filiform stalks, short (rarely 1' long) and compactly flowered; perigynium greenish, very strongly 15--20-nerved, the very slender beak strongly toothed; scale linear and rough-awned, nearly or quite as long as the perigynium.--Swales, throughout; frequent. Often confounded with n. 16.

Var. Dudleyi, Bailey. Taller; spikes larger and slimmer (1--2' long), light straw-colored, all secund and widely divaricate or nodding; perigynium stronger toothed; scales usually more prominent.--Swales, Conn. (_Wright_), Ithaca, N. Y. (_Dudley_), Wisc. (_Lapham_).

19. C. Pseudo-Cyperus, L. Tall and stout, 2--3 high; culm thick and very sharply triangular, rough throughout; leaves very long, rough-margined; spikes 3--5, all slenderly peduncled and more or less drooping, all somewhat contiguous, long (mostly 2--3') and narrowly cylindrical, very compactly flowered; perigynium elliptic-lanceolate, more or less 2-edged, many-costate, the beak shorter than the body, with erect short teeth, strongly reflexed; scale very rough-awned, about the length of the perigynium.--Swamps and lake-borders, N. Eng. to Penn., and Mich.; rare. (Eu.)

Var. Americana, Hochst. Mostly stouter, the leaves broader (about '); spikes thicker and commonly more drooping; perigynium longer, the beak mostly longer than the body and the teeth long and prominently spreading. (C. comosa, _Boott_.)--Swamps; common.

[*] 1.--[+] 5. _Squarrsae._

20. C. stenolepis, Torr. Stout and very leafy, 1--2 high; culm obtusely angled, very smooth; leaves about 3” broad, rough on the nerves, the upper and the bracts very much longer than the culm; terminal spike often pistillate at top; other spikes 3--5, the uppermost sessile on the zigzag rhachis, short (1--1' or less) and evenly cylindrical, often staminate at top; perigynium very abruptly contracted into a short but slender toothed beak, shorter than the long-linear and rough scale.--Swamps and meadows, central Penn., to N. Ohio, west and southward; frequent.

21. C. squarrsa, L. Cespitose, 2--3 high; culm sharply angled, more or less rough above; leaves broad and weak, roughish, exceeding the culm; bracts much less prominent than in the last; spikes 1--3, thick, the terminal always two-thirds pistillate or more, the remainder more or less stalked, erect or slightly nodding, globular or oblong-cylindric, brown, exceedingly densely flowered; perigynium larger, the beak rough; scale short and usually invisible.--Bogs, throughout; infrequent.

[*] 2. TRACHYCHLaeNae.--[+] 1. _Shortianae._

22. C. Shortiana, Dewey. Tall and slender but strict, in small clumps, 2--3 high; leaves about ' broad, flat, rough on the nerves; spikes 3--5, somewhat approximate near the top of the culm, the lowest 2 or 3 short-peduncled, erect, small (1' long or less, and 2” wide), evenly cylindrical, exceedingly densely flowered; perigynium small, circular or round-ovate, flat, sharp-edged, nerveless, the orifice entire, perfectly squarrose; scale thin and blunt, about the length of the perigynium.--Wet meadows, S. Penn. and Va. to Ill.; rare eastward.

[*] 2.--[+] 2. _Anomalae._

23. C. scabrata, Schwein. Tall and rather stout, very leafy, 1--3 high, culm sharply and very roughly angled; leaves broad and flat, very rough; spikes 3--5, scattered, the upper 1 or 2 sessile, the remainder often long-peduncled and sometimes nodding, 1--2' long, narrowly cylindrical and compactly flowered; perigynium broadly ovate, prominently few-nerved, rough, the beak nearly as long as the body and slightly toothed; scale acute and rough-tipped, green-nerved, about as long as the body of the perigynium.--Wet meadows and glades, as far west as Mich.; common eastward.

[*] 2.--[+] 3. _Hirtae._

24. C. vestta, Willd. Stout and stiff, 2--3 high; culm sharply angled, smooth or somewhat rough; leaves narrow and rather short, roughish; staminate spike 1, rarely 2, sessile or nearly so; pistillate spikes 2--5, approximate and sessile, or rarely the lowest sub-radical, often staminate at top, oblong or short-cylindric (rarely 1' long), compactly flowered; perigynium ovate, nerved, stiffly hairy, short-beaked, the beak often purple, and white-hyaline at the orifice, which becomes more or less split with age; scale thin and blunt or acute, shorter than the perigynium.--Tufted in sandy soils, from N. Eng. to N. Y., and southward; frequent.

25. C. striata, Michx., var. brevis, Bailey. Stiff, 1--2 high; culm sharply angled, smooth or slightly rough above, mostly exceeding the leaves; leaves narrow and stiff, becoming involute; spikes 1--2, mostly closely sessile, considerably separated when two, short (rarely 1' long) and rather thick, erect; perigynium broad-ovate with impressed nerves, smooth, ascending, short-beaked and very short-toothed; scale thin, obtuse or acutish, mostly about as long as the perigynium.--Pine-barren swamps, N. J., and southward; local.

26. C. Houghtnii, Torr. Stiff, 1--2 high, extensively creeping; culm rather sharply angled, rough, exceeding the leaves; leaves flat and very sharp-pointed; spikes 1--3, sessile or the lowest short-stalked, erect, varying from nearly globular to cylindric (1' long), compact; perigynium short-ovate, stiffly p.u.b.escent, prominently nerved and toothed; scale thin-margined, acute or awned, shorter than the perigynium.--Sandy knolls and banks from Maine to Minn. along our northern borders, and northwestward; rather local.