Part 193 (1/2)

[=][=] _Plant strict but not stiff._

113. C. cephaloidea, Dewey. Lax, very green, 2--3 high; leaves broad (2--3”) and thin, shorter than the long culm; head rather loose, '

long or more, all but the very uppermost spikes clearly defined; perigynium ovate, entirely nerveless, long rough-pointed, spreading, twice longer than the very thin scale or more.--Shady banks, W. Ma.s.s. to Mich.; frequent.

114. C. cephalophora, Muhl. Mostly smaller and stricter, pale; leaves half as wide or less; head small, rarely ' long, globular or very short-oblong, never interrupted, the lower 1 or 2 spikes usually bearing a very setaceous short bract; perigynium twice smaller than in the last, scarcely longer than the rough-cuspidate scale.--Dry and mostly sterile knolls; common.

Var. angustiflia, Boott. Low, 8' high or less; leaves very narrow; head smaller, usually tawny; perigynium mostly broader.--West and southward; rare.

[*] 11.--[+] 6. _Diicae_.

[++] _Perigynium nerveless or very nearly so_.

115. C. capitata, L. Rigid, 3'--1 high; leaves filiform, shorter than the culm; head globular, uniformly staminate above, brown, very small; perigynium broadly ovate, very thin, whitish, prominently beaked, erect and appressed, longer than the very thin and obtuse scale.--Alpine summits of the White Mountains. (Eu.)

[++][++] _Perigynium prominently nerved_.

116. C. gyncrates, Wormsk. Stiff but very slender, 3--6' high, dicious; leaves filiform and setaceous, about the length of the culm; spike oblong, 2--4” long; perigynium elliptic-ovate, nearly terete, stipitate, widely spreading or reflexed at maturity, 1 or 2 sometimes borne at the base of the staminate spike.--Cold sphagnum swamps, Penn., north and westward; local, particularly southward.

117. C. exlis, Dewey. Very stiff, slender, 1--2 high; leaves involute-filiform and very stiff, shorter than the culm; spike varying from almost globular to cylindrical (frequently 1' long), either unis.e.xual or the s.e.xes variously placed, very rarely a supplementary spike at base; perigynium elliptic-ovate, flattish, stipitate and somewhat cordate at base, strongly brown-nerved on the outer face, rather faintly nerved on the inner, rough-edged above, sharply toothed, spreading, a little longer than the scale.--Cold swamps and lake-borders, N. Eng. and eastern N. Y. to N. J.; rare.

[*] 12. HYPARRHeNae.--[+] 1. _Elongatae_.

[++] _Perigynium very sharp-margined, firm, often thickened at base, spreading in open and at maturity stellate spikes._

118. C. echinata, Murray, var. cephalantha, Bailey. Rather stiff but slender, 1--2 high; leaves very narrow and involute, about the length of the culm; spikes 5--8, approximate or even aggregated into a head, green, compactly 15--30-flowered, short-oblong or nearly globular; perigynium ovate-lanceolate, rough on the margins above, nerved on both faces, spreading or reflexed at maturity, the beak long and prominent, longer than the sharp white scale. (C. stellulata, last ed.)--E. Penn.

(_Porter_) to Ma.s.s. (_Morong_), and westward to L. Superior; rare.--Var.

CONFeRTA, Bailey. Very stiff; spikes contiguous or scattered, spreading, short-oblong or globular, dense; perigynium broadly ovate or even nearly round-ovate, very strongly nerved, reflexed or widely spreading. Near the sea-coast; uncommon. The perigynia resemble those of n. 112.--Var.

MICRoSTACHYS, Boeckl. Mostly very slender; spikes few, 3--10-flowered, usually tawny; perigynium small, lance-ovate, nerved on the outer face but usually nerveless on the inner, erect or spreading, the beak rather long or prominent. (C. scirpoides, _Schkuhr._ C. sterilis, _Willd._) Swales, throughout; very common and variable.--Var. ANGUSTaTA, Bailey.

Exceedingly slender; spikes few and very few-flowered, mostly all contiguous; perigynium lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, twice the length of the scale or more. N. Y., Vt., and northward; rare.

[++][++] _Perigynium scarcely sharp-margined, thin in texture, not thickened at base, mostly in closely flowered and rounded or oblong spikes._

[=] _Perigynium ovate or nearly so, the beak short or none._

[a.] _Bracts not prolonged._

119. C. canescens, L. Stiff and rather stout, 1--2 high, glaucous and pale throughout, growing in stools; spikes 4--8, globular or oblong, very densely 20--50-flowered, approximate or somewhat scattered on the upper part of the culm, usually prominently contracted below with the staminate flowers; perigynium short-ovate, silvery-white and minutely puncticulate, never thickened at base, faintly few-nerved, smooth throughout, ascending, the beak very short and entire; scale obtuse or acutish, about the length of the perigynium.--Cool swamps and bogs, N.

Eng. to Penn., west and northward; frequent northward. (Eu.)

Var. vulgaris, Bailey. Very slender, lower, not glaucous, in small and loose tufts; spikes smaller and usually fewer, loosely flowered; perigynium mostly more beaked, prominently spreading.--Mostly in drier places; very common. Perigynium much shorter than in any form of n. 118.

Var. alpicola, Wahl. Low and stiff, or at lower alt.i.tudes becoming somewhat slender, seldom much over 1 in height; spikes small, globular or nearly so, dense, well defined and brown or tawny; perigynium as in the type, ascending. (C. vitilis, _Fries._)--Mountains from N. Eng. to Ga., sparingly along our northern boundary, and far westward. (Eu.)

Var. polystachya, Boott. Erect and mostly strict, not glaucous, 1--2 high, scarcely tufted; leaves very lax and exceeding the culm; spikes oblong, more or less aggregated in an oblong interrupted head, the lowest 1 or 2 subtended by short scale-like bracts; perigynium somewhat spreading. (C. arcta, _Boott_.) Low woods, N. New Eng. to N. Minn.; rare. Resembles C. echinata, var. cephalantha.

120. C. Norvegica, Willd. Low and stiff, but rather slender, 1 high or less; leaves very narrow, mostly shorter than the culm; spikes 3--5, somewhat scattered, brown, globular or oblong, compactly many-flowered, the terminal one long-contracted below with the staminate flowers; perigynium very short-ovate, thick, the beak rough, a little longer than the very obtuse scale.--Salt marshes, Maine, and northward, rare. (Eu.)

121. C. tenuiflra, Wahl. Very slender and diffuse, 1--1 high, in tufts; leaves very narrow and lax, shorter than the filiform culm; spikes 2--4, all loosely few-flowered and silvery-green, and aggregated into a small globular head; perigynium elliptic, obscurely nerved, smooth, beakless, spreading, about the length of the white thin scale.--Bogs, N. New Eng. to N. Minn.; local. (Eu.)

[b.] _Bracts much prolonged, the lowest 2--3' long._