84. Carex Durifdlia Bailey. Back's Sedge

Fig. 951

Carex Backii Boott; Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 210. pi. 209. 1840. Not C. Backava Dewey, 1836.

Carex durifolia Bailey, Bull. Torr. Club 20: 428. 1893.

Similar to the preceding species, glabrous, culms from very short to 10' high. Leaves ascending or spreading, 6'-12' long, l 1/4" - 3" wide, very much overtopping the spikes; spikes 1-3, nearly basal, androgynous, 1 or 2 of them long-stalked, the staminate flowers few, inconspicuous, the pistillate 2-6, subtended by leafy bract-like elongated scales which nearly enclose the inflorescence; perigynia oval, smooth, gradually tapering into a stout two-edged beak nearly or quite as long as the body, which is about \\" long and 1" thick; stigmas 3

In woods and thickets, eastern Quebec to Assiniboia, south to Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Nebraska. May-June.

85. Carex Leptalea Wahl. Bristle-Stalked Sedge

Fig. 952

Carex leptalea Wahl. Kongl. Vet. Acad. Handl. (II.) 24:

139. 1803. Carex polytrichoides Muhl.; Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 213. 1805. Carex Harperi Fernald, Rhodora 8: 181. 1906.

Light green and glabrous, culms filiform, smooth, erect or spreading, 6'-24' long. Leaves very narrow, mostly shorter than the culm; spike solitary, terminal, androgynous, narrowly linear, 2"-8" long, 1"-1 1/2" thick; perigynia few, narrowly oblong, light green, finely many-nerved, narrowed at the base, obtuse and beakless at the summit, 11 /2"-2 1/2" long, 1/2"- 3/4" thick; scales membranous, the lowest cuspidate, sometimes attenuated into a subulate awn nearly as long as the spike, the upper short-acuminate to very obtuse, much shorter than perigynia; stigmas 3.

In bogs and swamps, Newfoundland to Alaska, Florida,. Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and Oregon. Ascends to 4300 ft. in North Carolina. June-Aug.

86. Carex Pauciflora Lightf. Few-Flowered Sedge

Fig. 953

Carex pauciflora Lightf. Fl. Scot. 543. pi. 6. 1777.

Glabrous, culms from slender long running root-stocks, erect or assurgent, very slender, 3'-2° high, with two or three developed leaves. Leaves very narrow, usually shorter than the culm, the lowest reduced to sheaths; spike solitary, androgynous, the staminate and pistillate flowers each 1-6; peri-gynium green, narrow, scarcely inflated, 3'~4' long, about J" in diameter, obscurely several-nerved, tapering from below the middle into a very slender beak with oblique orifice, strongly reflexed and readily detachable when mature, 2-3 times longer than the deciduous lanceolate or ovate scale; achene linear-oblong; stigmas 3.

In bogs, Newfoundland to Alaska, south to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Washington. June-Aug.

87. Carex Microglochin Wahl. False Uncinia

Fig. 954

Carex microglochin Wahl. Kongl. Acad. Handl. (II.) 24:

140. 1803. Uncittia microglochin Spreng. Syst. 3: 830. 1826.

Culms slender, from slender elongated rootstocks, weak, 4'-12' high, with four to eight developed leaves. Leaves very narrow, shorter than the culm; spike solitary, 3 1/2"-8" long, androgynous, usually pistillate for more than one-half its length; scales oblong-lanceolate, 1-nerved, deciduous; perigynia 3-10, very narrowly lanceolate, 2"-3" long, less than 1/2" thick, strongly reflexed in fruit, obscurely nerved, tapering into the long smooth beak, the orifice oblique; achene linear-oblong, obtusely 3-angled, much shorter than the perigynium; racheola bristlelike, long-exserted beyond the orifice of the perigynium.

Greenland to James Bay and British Columbia; Colorado ?. Also in the arctic and mountainous parts of Europe and Asia. Summer.