162 |... Dn. Goopenoucn’s Obfervations 
Habitat paffim in paluftribus, & ad ripas foffarum & fluviorum. 
| Maio. 
Radix fibrofa, perennis. Folia faturaté viridia, latiufcula, ad oras 
carinafque afpera, culmum fuperantia. Cu/mus erectus, firmus, rachi 
fpicæ multo auctior, pedalis, bipedalis, triqueter, lateribus fub-exca- 
vatis, & inde angulis acutiffimis, afperis. Spica androgyna, fupra- 
decompofita, coarétato-ramofa, oblonga, obtufa, ramis diftanti-. 
bus rigidis. Ad bafin omnis rami, braétea bafi ovata, fuperné in 
foliolum fetaceum hifpidum definens—Spiculæ fefliles, ovato-ro- 
tundz, fuperné mafculæ—Squamæ ovatz, acuminate, fufcæ, mem- 
branaceæ, nervo dorfali viridi, capfulis paulo longiores. Cap/ule 
oblongæ, acuminatz, hinc planæ, illinc convexiufculz, divergentes, 
ore bifido. Filamenta tria, antheris linearibus flavis. — Szy/us ftigma- 
tibus duobus. 
Of this well-known fpecies no doubt can be entertained.— The 
ftoutnefs of its culm, the clofenefs and rigid nature of the fpike, and 
its fupradecompgfition, mark it very ftrongly. Dr. Withering notes 
feveral varieties, but they all fall under the general defcription which 
I have given above. To diftinguifh it ftill more nicely from fome 
of its affinities, obferve—1. That the fpike is furnifhed with many 
braéteæ ending in a fetaceous leaf, and that the culm is moft 
fharply triangular, and the fides are hollowed, or fink in.—' Then 
the capfules are divaricated. Moreover, the culm is enlarged be- 
low the fpike, and feems fuddenly contracted when it meets the- 
rachis of the fpike. Hence it feems to be very different from muri- 
cata, to which it is moft nearly allied; and alfo from fereriufcula, 
which has its culm fomewhat roundifh. | E 
` Leers fig. t. 14. f. 3. is a variety of this plant, and not Carex di- 
vulfa, as is evident from the diverging of the capfules. 
pL 
16. CAREX 
-— 
