ON SOME SCOTTISH ALPINE FORMS OF CAREX 175 



remarks I make, as it is more in accordance with my ideas 

 concerning the relative position of the forms. The descrip- 

 tions of these forms may not be comprehensive enough, but 

 on the whole, so far as I have tested them, they seem to fit 

 our British plants fairly well. 



The species I intend to discuss are well known, therefore 

 I do not think it necessary to enter into their synonymy, 

 which may be found in the above-mentioned work, and in 

 various other sources at the command of most students. I 

 may just be permitted to say in passing that this monograph 

 from an authority of such generally recognised ability, has 

 not come too soon, as the great discrepancies to be found in 

 the descriptions of different authors must have been a source 

 of great inconvenience to all students of the genus, and the 

 want of a good standard book, more up-to-date than any we 

 have, for reference on critical points, must have long been a 

 felt want. 



The hill-forms of Carex are, in my opinion, more interest- 

 ing than the low-country forms as they are much more varied, 

 and taking note of these variations as one is quietly ascend- 

 ing a mountain-side adds much to one's knowledge, relieves 

 the muscular exertion, and thereby makes toil a pleasure. 

 Also by observing the effects on the same plant, growing in 

 a wet bog or dry soil, or on rock ledges, at different altitudes, 

 helps the student very materially to decide which form of 

 the plant the author had before him when he was drawing 

 out his description. 



Let me begin with : 



Carex rostrata, Stokes. If we go to the muddy shores 

 of Loch Dochart we find this plant with a stem longer than 

 the leaves, and the leaves themselves comparatively flat ; but 

 if we follow the streams and examine the marshes right up 

 to the highest bog-land and note the changes in the pro- 

 portion of stems to leaves ; we see the stems getting shorter, 

 and the leaves becoming longer, narrower, and more involute, 

 till we find it with leaves twice as long as the stems, and as 

 a rule we find all the other organs proportionately changed 

 in shape and colour. 



Under the type Kiikenthal describes five forms, of which 

 I think we can lay claim to the following : 



