140. Carex Flaccosperma Dewey. Thin-Fruited Sedge

Fig. 1007

Carex laxiflora var. (?) mutica Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 3:

414. 1836. Not C. mutica R. Br. 1823. Carex flaccosperma Dewey, Am. Journ. Sci. (II.) 2: 245.

1846.

Similar to Carex grisea and C. glaucodea; slightly glaucous, rather deep green, culms erect, 6'-2° high. Leaves thin and flat, the basal ones 3"-9" wide, usually shorter than the culm, the bracts leafy, much overtopping the spikes; staminate spike sessile or nearly so; pistillate spikes 2-4, 6"-15" long, 2"-3" thick, densely 10-40-flowered, widely separate, oblong, erect, the lower slender-stalked; perigynia oblong, 3-ahgled, striate-nerved, subacute, 2 1/4" - 3 long; scales broadly ovate, green, with slightly scarious margins, acute, cuspidate or the upper obtuse, 2-3 times shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 3.

Southern Missouri to Texas, east to North Carolina and Florida. June-July.

141. Carex Gracillima Schwein. Graceful Sedge

Fig. 1008

Carex gracillima Schwein. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 1: 66. 1824. Carex gracillima var. humilis Bailey, Mem. Torr. Club 1: 71. 1889.

Glabrous, culms slender, erect, smooth or nearly so, 1°-3° high. Leaves dark green, 1 1/2"-4 1/2" wide, shorter than the culm, the basal ones wider than the upper; lower bract foliaceous, sometimes overtopping the spikes; spikes 3-5, narrowly cylindric, usually densely flowered except at the base, 1'-2 1/2' long, about 1 1/2" thick, or sometimes much reduced, filiform-stalked and drooping or ascending, the upper one partly or wholly staminate; perigynia ovoid-oblong, slightly swollen, few-nerved, glabrous, 1 1/2" long or less, rounded at apex, beakless; scales thin, ovate-oblong, very obtuse or the lower cuspidate, pale, scarious-margined, one-half as long as the perigynia or lower nearly as long; stigmas 3.

In moist woods and meadows, Newfoundland to Manitoba, North Carolina, Ohio and Michigan. May-July. A hybrid with C. complanata occurs at Philipstown, Putnam County, N. Y.

Carex Sullivantii Boott, is a hybrid with C. hirtifolia, found in Ohio, New York and Delaware.

142. Carex Prasina Wahl. Drooping Sedge

Fig. 1009

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

161. 1803. Carex miliacea Muhl.; Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 290. 1805.

Glabrous, rather light green, culms slender, slightly roughened above, sharply 3-angled, l°-2 1/2° high. Leaves shorter than or equalling the culm, flaccid, roughish, 1 1/4"-2 1/2" wide; lower bract similar, short-sheathing, commonly overtopping the spikes; staminate spike solitary, stalked, sometimes partly pistillate; pistillate spikes 2 to 4, narrowly linear-cylindric, drooping, the lower filiform-stalked, the upper short-stalked, 1 -2 1/2 long, 2" in diameter, many-flowered, attenuate at base; perigynia light green, ovate-lanceolate, triangular, 1 1/2"-2" long, 3/4" wide, nerveless or nearly so, tapering into a smooth minutely 2-toothed or entire beak; scales ovate, acute, acuminate, or short-awned, hyaline, with green midrib, shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 3.

In meadows and moist thickets, Maine to Michigan, District of Columbia and Ohio, south in the Alleghanies to Georgia. Ascends to 4200 ft. in Virginia. May-July.