MONOECIA—TRIANDRIA. Carex. 109 



The channelled, narrow, long leaves and bracteas at once ascertain 

 this species, which is not much allied to C.Jiava or fulva. Some 

 fertile^ore/s now and then occur in the lower part of the barren 

 catkin, which is not always perfectly single. 



42. C. (list cms. Loose Carex. 



Sheaths tubular, elongated, nearly equal to the flower- 

 stalks. Fertile catkins elliptic-oblong, widely distant. 

 Scales pointed. Stem smooth. 



C. distans. Liwn.Sp.P/. 1387. mild. v. 4.27 \. Fl.Br.992. Engl. 

 Bot.v.\S.t.\234. Hook. Scot. 267. Schk. Car. \02. t.T.f. 68. 

 Ehrh. Calam. 40. 



C. n. 1382. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 192. 



Cyperoides spicis parvis, long^distantibus. Segu. Veron. t\ 3. 77 ; 

 from the author. Scheuchz. Agr. 431. 



Gramen cyperoides, spicis parvis longissim^ distantibus. Raii 

 Syn. 420. 



G. cyperoides gracile alterum, glomeratis torulis, spatio distanti- 

 bus. Lob. lUustr. 60. Moris, v. 3. 243. sect. 8. t. 12./. 18. 



In muddy marshes, especially near the sea 3 first noticed by Dr. 

 Martin Lister, according to Ray. 



Perennial. June. 



Root fibrous, scarcely creeping. Stem 12 to 18 inches high, weak, 

 or reclining, triangular, striated, smooth, except at the very 

 summit above the fertile catkins 3 leafy at the bottom. Leaves 

 lanceolate, flat, short and broad, tapering to a point, rough at 

 the edges. Bracteas narrower than the leaves, each with a 

 close, striated, cylindrical, smooth sheath, about an inch long. 

 Flower-stalks sometimes entirely inclosed in the sheaths, but 

 the lowermost are generally longer, triangular and smooth. 

 Fertile catkins 2 or 3, with a s|)ace of 6 inches, or more, between 

 the 2 lowest, all usually ellijjtic-oblong, various in length if not 

 in thickness, erect, blackish or brown rather than tawnv. Scales 

 ovate, broad, brown speckled with red, having a green 3-ribbed 

 keel, and a very distinct, straight, rough point, or awn, var^'ing 

 in length, but always sufficient to distinguish the present species 

 from its allies, except tiie following. Barren catkin always 

 solitary, erect, cylindrical, obtuse, longer than the rest j its 

 «crt/t'A numerous, obtuse, pointless, rusty. Stdni. 3. Stigw.3. 

 Fruit ovate, triangular, uniformly and ecjually ribbed all over, 

 either rough or smooth at the edges of the u|)per part, in the 

 very same catkin, as are likewise the edges of the siiortish cloven 

 beak, though all are usually smooth. Schkuhr represents them 

 always rough, though his figure is otlierwisc verv good. Seed 

 obscurely dotted, triangular, equal. 



The plate of Ft. Dan. t. 102!), quoted in Fl. Br., is indubitably 

 our C. speirostachyay n. 28, to which species, I have reason to 



