167. Carex Scabrata Schwein. Rough Sedge

Fig. 1034

Car ex scabrata Schwein. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 1: 69. 1824.

Glabrous, strongly stoloniferous, culms sharply triangular, weakly erect, very rough above, leafy, 1°-3° high. Leaves very rough above, much elongated, 2 1/2"-9" wide, the bracts similar but narrower and usually exceeding the culm; staminate spike stalked; pistillate spikes 3,-6, erect, the upper short-stalked, the lower sometimes spreading or drooping, narrowly cylindric, densely many-flowered, f-2i' long, 2 1/2"-4" in diameter; perigynia greenish-brown, 1 1/2'-2" long, nearly 1" wide, the body obovoid, slightly inflated, strongly nerved, papillose, abruptly contracted into a long beak with obliquely cut, at length slightly bidentate, hyaline orifice; scales lanceolate, acute or short-awned, strongly nerved, shorter than the perigynia; stigmas 3.

In moist woods and thickets, eastern Quebec to Ontario, Michigan, South Carolina and Tennessee. Ascends to 4200 ft. in Virginia. Hybridizes with Carex crinita. May-Aug.

168. Carex Rarifldra (Wahl.) J. E. Smith. Loose-Flowered Alpine Sedge

Fig. 1035

Carex limosa r rariflora Wahl. Vet.-Akad. Handl. 24: 162.

1803. Carex rariflora J. E. Smith, Engl. Bot. pi. 2516. 1813.

Glabrous, culms very slender, rather stiff, erect, obtusely triangular, 4'-14' tall, smooth, from slender elongated rootstocks. Leaves 3/4'-l 1/4" wide, flat, green, shorter than the culm, the lower very short; bracts very short, purple at the base; staminate spike solitary, long-stalked, sometimes with a few pistillate flowers at the base; pistillate spikes 1 to 3, narrowly oblong, 3-18-flowered, 3"-8" long, 2"-21/2" in diameter, nodding or ascending on filiform stalks; perigynia pale, ovoid-elliptic, thick, slightly inflated, tapering at base, 1 3/4" long, nearly 1" wide, slightly 2-edged, very obscurely nerved, rounded at apex and essentially beakless, the orifice entire; scales broadly oval, purple-brown with a greenish midvein, obtuse or short-mucronate, about equalling and half enveloping the perigynia; stigmas 3.

In wet places, Greenland and Labrador to Hudson Bay, locally south to Mt. Katahdin, Maine. Also in Europe and Asia. Summer.

169. Carex Limosa L. Mud Sedge

Fig. 1036

Carex limosa L. Sp. PI. 977. 1753.

Glabrous, glaucous, strongly long-stoloniferous, culms slender, rough above, sharply triangular, erect, 6'-2° tall. Leaves 1 1/2" wide, usually shorter than the culm, involute; bracts linear-filiform, the lower 1/2'-2 1/2' long, its auricles brownish; staminate spike solitary, long-stalked; pistillate spikes 1 to 3, filiform-stalked and drooping or the upper nearly erect, oblong, 5"-13" long, 2 1/2"-4" thick, 8-30-flowered; perigynia glaucous-green, broadly ovate, strongly flattened and 2-edged, I 1/4" long, 1" wide, few-nerved, tipped with a very minute entire beak, nearly as long as the ovate, usually dark-tinged, short-cuspidate or acute scales; stigmas 3.

In bogs, Labrador to British Columbia, south to Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Iowa and Colorado. Also in Europe. Summer.

Carex macrochaeta C. A. Meyer {Carex podocarpa Bailey, Proc. Am. Acad. 197, and of our 1st ed., p. 312, not R. Br.) is omitted as probably not found in our range; the real Carex podocarpa R. Br. is also omitted for the same reason.