1. Carex Nardina Fries. Nard Sedge

Fig. 868

Carex nardina Fries, Mant. 2: 55. 1839.

Culms very densely caespitose, filiform, smooth, erect, 2'-5' tall, densely clothed at base with the old sheaths, many-leaved. Leaves filiform, erect, shorter or longer than the culms; spike solitary, terminal, oblong, androgynous, bractless, 3"~7" long, less than 2" in diameter; perigynia oblong-elliptic, plano-convex, yellowish brown, faintly nerved, nearly erect, narrowed at both ends, 1 1/2"-2" long, \" wide, slightly serrulate above, minutely and abruptly beaked, 2-toothed; scales broadly ovate, brown, with lighter center, thin, obtuse to slightly cuspidate, usually longer than the perigynia; racheola often present; stigmas 2 or 3.

Labrador and Hudson Bay to British Columbia and south to Washington and Colorado. Also in Europe and Asia. Summer.

2. Carex Capitata L. Capitate Sedge

Fig. 869

Carex capitata L. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10, 1261. 1759.

Culms caespitose, slender, but stiff, strictly erect, 2-18' tall, slightly roughened above, few-leaved, the old sheaths not conspicuous, slightly fibrillose at base. Leaves filiform, involute, erect, shorter than the culm; spike solitary, terminal, short-ovoid, androgynous, bractless, 2"-4" high, 1 1/2"-2" in diameter; perigynia membranous, broadly ovoid, ascending, whitish or tinged with brown, nerveless or nearly so, 1 1/4" long, 3/4"-l" wide, abruptly contracted into a smooth, nearly entire, dark brown beak about \" long, with hyaline orifice; scales broadly ovate, membranous, brown, with conspicuous white hyaline margins, obtuse, shorter than the perigynia; racheola often present; stigmas 2.

Greenland and Labrador to the Northwest Territory and Wyoming and on the higher summits of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Also in Europe, Asia and South America. Summer.

3. Carex Incurva Lightf. Curved Sedge

Fig. 870

Carex incurva Lightf. Fl. Scot. 544. pi. 24. f. 1. 1777.

In small tufts, from elongated rootstocks, culms rather stiff, smooth, often curved, 1'-8' long. Leaves less than 1" wide, shorter than to exceeding the culm, usually curved; spikes 2-5, androgynous, sessile and closely aggregated into an ovoid or short oblong dense head, 2 1/2"-8" in diameter, appearing like a solitary spike; perigynia ovate, slightly swollen, compressed, scarcely margined, 1 1/2" long, 1" wide, faintly several-many-nerved, contracted at the base and narrowed above into a short conic roughish beak; scales ovate, brownish, with silvery hyaline margins, acute or subacute, membranous, shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 2.

Greenland and Hudson Bay to British Columbia and Alaska. Also in Europe and Asia. Summer.

4. Carex Gynocrates Wormsk. Northern Bog Sedge

Fig. 871

Carex gynocrates Wormsk.; Drejer, Rev. Crit. Car. 16. 1841. Carex Redowskyana Fr. Schmidt Reisen im Amurl. 66. 1868. Not C. A. Meyer, 1831.

Culms very slender, stiff, erect, smooth, obtusely triangular, 3'-12' tall, slenderly long-stoloniferous. Leaves almost bristle-form, erect, usually shorter than the culm; spike solitary, linear, terminal, erect, 2"-8" long, androgynous, the pistillate part 2"-3" thick, or sometimes wholly staminate or pistillate; perigynia ovoid-ellipsoid, biconvex, thin-edged, but margined above only, rounded and stipitate at base, dark brown at maturity, 1 1/2" long, 3/4" wide, spreading or reflexed when mature, strongly several-nerved, rough above, narrowed into a short, at length 2-toothed beak; scales ovate, light brown, spreading, acute to cuspidate, shorter than or equalling the perigynia; stigmas 2.

In bogs, Greenland to Alaska, south to Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado. Also in Europe and Asia. Summer.