73. C. Careyàna, Torr. Tall and slender, mostly erect, 1–2° high; leaves bright green, firm, 3–4´´ wide or more, shorter than the long culm; bracts leafy, longer than in the last; staminate spike heavy and stalked; pistillate spikes 2–3 (mostly 2), the upper usually near the terminal spike, and nearly sessile, the other remote and long-peduncled, loosely 2–8-flowered; perigynium very large and very sharply angled, the beak oblique, finely many-nerved, twice longer than the sharp scale.—Rich woods, N. Eng. to Mich., and southward to Washington; rare.
[++][++] Sheaths usually purple.
74. C. plantagínea, Lam. Slender but erect, 1–2° high; leaves ½–1´ broad, very firm, appearing after the flowers and persisting over winter, shorter than the culm; staminate spike purple and clavate, stalked; pistillate spikes 3–4, scattered, loosely few-flowered, erect, the peduncles included in the leafless sheaths; perigynium smaller than in n. 73, prominently beaked, about as long as the sharp scale.—Rich woods, N. Eng. to Wisc., and southward; local.
[*] 6.—[+] 3. Paníceæ.
[++] Beak cylindrical and prominent; plant not glaucous.
75. C. Saltuénsis, Bailey. Very slender and more or less diffuse, strongly stoloniferous, 1–1½° high; leaves narrow and soft, shorter than the culm; spikes 2–3, scattered, all peduncled and more or less spreading, loosely 3–10-flowered; perigynium small, nearly nerveless, thin, the beak straight and sharply toothed; scale loose, acute, shorter than the perigynium. (C. vaginata, last ed.)—Deep swamps, Vt. to Minn.; local.
76. C. polymórpha, Muhl. Stout, 1–2° high; leaves rather broad, short; spikes 1–2, short-stalked, erect, compact or rarely loose, usually staminate at the apex, 1½´ long or less; perigynium long-ovate, obscurely nerved; the very long and nearly straight beak oblique or lipped at the orifice; scale reddish-brown, obtuse, shorter than the perigynium.—Moist meadows, Mass. to N. C.; local.
[++][++] Beak short or none; plant often glaucous.
[=] Plants of ordinary habit.
77. C. tetánica, Schkuhr. Rather slender, rarely glaucous, somewhat stoloniferous; culm scabrous, at least above; spikes all peduncled, the upper one very shortly so, pale, all more or less attenuate below, the lower borne in the axils of bracts 3´ long or more; perigynium not turgid, greenish, prominently many-nerved, the beak strongly bent; scale obtuse or abruptly mucronate, all except the lowest mostly shorter than the perigynium.—Meadows and borders of ponds from W. Mass. westward; common westward.—Var. Woòdii, Bailey. Very slender and strongly stoloniferous; leaves narrow, very long and lax; spikes mostly alternately flowered throughout; scales often sharper. (C. Woodii, Dewey.) Rich woods, N. Y. to Mich., and south to Washington; frequent.—Var. Mèadii, Bailey. Stiffer; leaves mostly broader and stricter; spikes thick and densely flowered, not attenuate at base, the upper one often sessile; perigynium larger. (C. Meadii, Dewey.) R. I. to Neb., and southward; rare eastward.—Var. Cánbyi, Porter. Stout and stiff; leaves still broader (about 2´´ wide) and flat; spikes thick, often ¼´ wide; perigynium long, straight or very nearly so; scale large, nearly equalling or exceeding the perigynium. E. Penn. (Canby); Ill. and Wisc.; little known.