152. Carex Assiniboinensis W. Boott. Assini-Boia Sedge

Fig. 1019

C. assiniboinensis W. Boott, Bot. Gaz. 9: 91. 1884.

Glabrous and nearly smooth, culms slender, weak, aphyllopodic, 1°-2 1/2° high, longer than the leaves, strongly reddened at base. Leaves and bracts 1/2"-1' wide, the bracts sheathing; staminate spike long-stalked; pistillate spikes 2 or 3, widely separate, loosely and alternately 1-8-flowered, 4"-15" long, drooping on filiform stalks or upper erect; perigynia very narrowly lanceolate, appressed, obtusely 3-angled, subulate-beaked above, 3" long and 1" thick above the base, densely short-tuberculate-hispid, the beak obliquely cut at orifice; scales lanceolate, scarious-margined, short-awned, nearly the length of the perigynia; stigmas 3.

In wet soil, northern Minnesota, North Dakota and Manitoba. May-July.

153. Carex Castanea Wahl. Chestnut Sedge

Fig. 1020

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

155. 1803. Carex flexilis Rudge, Trans. Linn. Soc. 7: 98. pi. 10. 1804.

Culms slender, erect, rough above, 1°-3° tall, reddish-purple at base. Leaves 1 1/4"-3" wide, pubescent, shorter than the culm; bracts linear-filiform, 1/2'-1 1/2" long; staminate spike short-stalked; pistillate spikes 1-4, approximate, oblong or oblong-cylindric, many-flowered, 1/2'-1' long, about 3" thick, drooping on filiform stalks, or upper spreading; perigynia glabrous, pale brown, ascending, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, slightly inflated, 3-angled, few-nerved, tapering gradually into a minutely 2-toothed beak one-half as long as the body; scales light chestnut, thin, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or cuspidate, lacerate or entire, rather shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 3.

In dry thickets and on banks, Newfoundland to Minnesota, south to Connecticut, New York and the Great Lake region. June-July.

154. Carex Capillaris L. Hair-Like Sedge

Fig. 1021

Carex capillaris L. Sp. PI. 977. 1753.

Carex capillaris var. elongata Olney; Fernald, Proc. Am. Acad. 37: 509. " 1902.

Glabrous, culms very slender or filiform, smooth, or a little roughish above, erect, 2'-2o' tall, often densely tufted. Leaves 1/2"-1" wide, much shorter than the culm, flat or somewhat involute in drying; lower bract similar, the upper much narrower, all sheathing; spikes all filiform-stalked, the terminal staminate, usually exceeded by pistillate; pistillate spikes 1-3, narrowly oblong, 2"-6" long, 1 1/2" thick, nodding, 2-12-flowered; perigynia oblong, 3-angled, light green, almost nerveless, about \\" long, rather less than 5" thick, the slender beak with oblique, hyaline orifice; scales ovate, scarious-margined, obtuse or acute, shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 3.

Greenland to Alaska, south to Maine, the White Mountains, northern New York, Michigan, and in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado and Utah. Also in Europe and Asia.