e 
132 Dr. Goovenoven’s Obfervations 
or, as it is often called, but I doubt whether with propriety, the 
nectarium, muft be often called in to aid the defcription of Carices. 
The capfule is oblong, as in 2a//zfceus; round, as in pilulifera; rof- 
trated, as in P/eudo-Cyperus; fmooth, as in panicea; downy, as in. 
precox; villous, as in fiiformis and hirta; divided at the fummit,. 
as in muricata; entire, as in _/tellulata, 
In a few fpecies the foliaceous bractez have little auricles at each: 
fide of their bafe, as is particularly obfervable in /frifa, ce/pitofa,. 
rigida, and acuta. The length of the foliaceous bratteæ is incon- 
ftant, and therefore muft be admitted into defcriptions with ex- 
treme caution. C. arenaria of Linnæus, and C. divifa of Mr. Hud- 
fon, are defcribed by picis foliolo longiori infiruétis; whereas nothing 
is more common than to find them with exceedingly (hort bractez, 
and fometimes with none at all. E 
But above all modes whereby the diftin&ion of plants is beft dif- 
covered, cultivation and attention to the progrefs of their growth 
isthe moft ufeful. Beyond almoft all other plants, our patience is re- 
quired in the inveftigation of the graffes. When Carices are found in 
unnatural fituations, it is impoffible almoft to be aware of the ap- 
pearances which they will put on. On the high ground above Virginia 
water, I found C. ovalis with one male oblong fpike, neither could 
I learn its name till I had cultivated it. C. præcox, on Hanwell 
heath, appeared with only one terminal female fpike. Thefe are 
irregularities which cultivation alone can detect. A good botanift 
. will not be fatisfied till he can afcertain his plants in all their 
ftages. It is not lefs ufeful than fatisfactory to know the graffes, 
even independent of their flowers: C. Jimofa not unfrequently pro- 
duces no flowers; in this ftate, it has the fingular property of 
_ throwing out long, branching, trailing fhoots, which may be made 
to produce new plants by layers, or even by cuttings. Many more 
niceties of the fame kind might be mentioned, but I forbear left I 
' fhould feem tedious. S | 
Of 
