on the Britifb Species of Carex. 120 
- 
and colle& the thoughts of fuch as may be willing to turn their 
minds to this fubje&t. 
But however it is not fo much to my prefent purpofe, to enter 
very minutely into the generic character; that is a point to be re- 
ferved for future confideration: I am rather anxious to define the 
fpecies of this family. When I firft began to ftudy them, I met 
with more difficulties than I had reafon to apprehend. In the adop- 
tion of fynonyms, Linnzus himfelf has made fome blunders of con- 
fequence : Mr. Hud/on's C. /picata, is the C. muricata of Linneus— 
but L;zweus, in quoting his fynonyms, feleéts fome expreflive of 
Mr. Hudfon's fpicata, and others of his muricata: fo alfo, thinking 
. them to be the fame, he quotes Mori/on’s figure of recurva to his 
cafpitofa. I could mention more inftances of the fame kind. 
Again, there has always prevailed an idea of the many varieties 
of the feveral fpecies; a fuppofition by no means well founded.— 
Thus Linnaeus makes /ylvatica, veficaria and ampullacea varieties of each 
other. Thus alfo, riparia, paludofa, and acuta, have moft unaccount- 
ably, by many authors, been looked upon as partakers of the fame 
origin. The accurate Mr. Curtis firft noted their refpeétive 
limits. 
As Linneus, not always having the whole plant before him, cd 
-not form any difcriminating charaéter from the root, fo few of his 
followers have done it; whereas, in many of the fpecies, it is of 
importance to know the root. Thus, when we know that dioica 
has a creeping root, and $wicarzs a fibrous one, we are at once en- 
abled to diftinguifh them in any ftage of growth: their fpikes 
at their firft formation are often fimilar. 
But the greateft perplexity to be met with arifes from the Lin- 
nean divifion into fpikes feflile and pedunculated: cultivation, or, 
in a natural ftate, a cafual luxuriant growth, does away the whole 
diftinétion. Thus C. difaxs always has its fpikes on long footftalks; 
Vor. II. S = at 
