The Scottish Naturalist. 183 



Finally on August 20th, Mr. Barclay and I botanized the neigh- 

 bourhood of Blair-Athole, and found a small bed of the long-looked- 

 for rush. 



Such is, briefly, the history of the search for /uncus alpinus. 



/uncus alpinus may be best described by comparing its character 

 with those of the polymorphic, but more familiar, /uncus lamprocar- 

 pos. To that species it has a general resemblance ; and without 

 close examination might readily be passed over for it. 



The stem is much more slender and terete, and has usually only two, 

 though sometimes three, leaves. The leaf-sheaths are more acute on 

 the back, but this is a character which seems variable, being more 

 marked in the Killin specimens than in the others. The panicle 

 branches appear to be more constantly erect than in /uncus lampro- 

 earpos, in which, however, their direction is variable. The sepals are 

 roundly obtuse, more rugose and more opaque ; their margins 

 thicker and more coloured, and often only slightly scarious ; and the 

 outer ones are mucronate below the tip. The latter is a character 

 upon which great stress is laid by Koch and other authors, but in 

 practice it is not always easily made out ; and, moreover, the outer 

 sepals in /uncus lamprocavpos have sometimes the appearance of 

 being mucronate below the apex. Finally the capsule is of quite a 

 different shape, being ovate-oblong instead of ovate-lanceolate. As 

 in /uncus lamprocarpos the capsule is mucronate ; but below the 

 mucro it expands rather abruptly into a rounded shoulder ; moreover 

 it is rather smaller and somewhat less shining. The back of each 

 valve is widely channelled towards the summit. From the shape of 

 the sepals and of the capsule the fascicles of flowers in /incus 

 alpinus have a more truncate appearance than those of /uncus 

 lamprocarpos. 



/uncus alpinus grows in places similar to those frequented by 

 /uncus lamprocarpos , i.e. in spots which are more or less per- 

 manently damp. It is not confined to high altitudes as the specific 

 name would imply. Near Blair-Athole it occurs at about 500 feet 

 above sea-level ; near Pitlochry (the specimens from which, when 

 grown to maturity, proved to be the same as those from Blair-Athole) 

 it attains about 1800 feet ; near Killin its altitude has not yet been 

 observed. In size the plant varies according to the situation, our 

 specimens ranging in height from 4 inches to over 1 foot. In colour 

 the sepals and capsules of the Perthshire examples are very dark 

 brown ; but in some of the European varieties the colour is a pale 

 brown. 



