Chapter C: ARENARIA, Linn. Extensively creeping, 1 deg. high or less; leaves very

narrow and very long-pointed, shorter than the culm; head about 1' long, dense or sometimes interrupted, ovoid or oblong; spikes few to many, those at the apex of the head usually staminate, the intermediate ones staminate at the summit, the lowest entirely pistillate and subtended by a bract about 1' long; perigynium very strongly nerved on both faces, wing-margined above, sharply long-toothed, about the length of the scale.--Sea-beaches near Norfolk, Va. (_McMinn_). (Adv. from Eu.)

[*] 11.--[+] 5. _Muhlenbergianae._

[++] _Heads narrow, the spikes scattered (or often aggregated in_ C. muricata.)

[=] _Perigynium almost terete._

109. C. tenella, Schkuhr. Exceedingly slender, 6'--2 deg. high, in tufts; leaves flat, soft, and weak, mostly shorter than the culm; spikes 1--3-flowered, or the terminal 4--6-flowered, all distinct and scattered on the upper part of the culm, the bracts obsolete or the lowest present and very short; perigynium elliptic-ovate, very plump, finely nerved, the minute beak entire, longer than the white scale, usually at length splitting and exposing the blackish achene.--Cold swamps, N. Eng. to Penn., and far westward; common. (Eu.)

[=][=] _Perigynium flattish._

110. C. rosea, Schkuhr. Always slender and weak, erect, 1--21/2 deg. high, exceeding the narrow leaves; spikes 5--8, 6--14-flowered, the upper 3--4 aggregated, the others 3--9'' apart, the lowest usually with a setaceous bract; perigynium lance-ovate, thin and shining, nerveless, scarcely margined, rough on the edges above, perfectly squarrose, very green, about twice longer than the translucent white scale.--Rich woods, N. Eng. to Minn. and Neb.; frequent.--Var. RADIATA, Dewey. Lower and much more slender, the culms sometimes almost capillary; spikes 2--5, scattered, 2--4-flowered; perigynium mostly narrower and more ascending. Open places and drier woods; common.

Var. Texensis, Torr. Very slender but strict, 1 deg. high or less; spikes 3--4, all contiguous or the lower ones approximate, 2--6-flowered; perigynium lanceolate, the base prominently spongy, smooth or nearly so, conspicuously divaricate.--Dry places, S. Ill. (_Schneck_), and southward.

Var. retroflexa, Torr. Often rather stiff, 1--11/2 deg. high; spikes 4--8, the upper ones aggregated, the lower 1 or 2 separated and commonly subtended by a conspicuous bract, often brownish; perigynium ovate, smooth throughout, very prominently corky and swollen at the base, which is frequently contracted almost to a stipe, at maturity usually widely spreading or reflexed; scale brownish and sharp, at length deciduous. (C. retroflexa, _Muhl._)--Copses, throughout; rare northward.

111. C. sparganioides, Muhl. Stouter, stiff; culm 2--3 deg. high; leaves very broad (usually 1/4' or more) and flat, their sheaths conspicuously clothing the base of the culm; spikes 6--10, the 2 or 3 upper ones contiguous, the remainder entirely separate, very green, oblong or short-cylindric, the lowest often compound, all truncate at top; perigynium ovate, wing-margined, rough on the short beak, often obscurely nerved on the outer face, considerably longer than the rough-pointed scale.--Rich woods; frequent.