88 MONOECIA— TRIANDIIIA. Carex. 



inches in length. Spikeleis less numerous than in the last, irre- 

 gularly clustered, ovate ; the lower ones often subdivided. Fer- 

 tile florets most numerous in every spikelet, and below the bar- 

 ren ones. Scales elliptical, strongly keeled and pointed, with a 

 filmy border; their disk dark brown; base green, Stani.3. 

 Stigm. 2, twice the length of the stijle. Fruit shorter than the 

 scales, ovate, dilated and rough at the edges, cloven at the point. 

 The old authors cited by Ray, may or may not intend this species, 

 nor can they be relied on for any illustration of a plant so nearly 

 resembling several others. 



16. C muricata. Greater Prickly Carex. 



Spike oblong, dense, prickly with the broad, rough-edged, 



cloven, spreading beaks of the fruit. Spikelets roundish, 



mostly simple. Root fibrous. 

 C. muricata. Litiri. Sp. PL 1382. Willd. v. 4. 234. Ft. Br. 974. 



Engl. Bot. V. 16. t. 1097. Hook. Scot.262. Schk. Car. 20. t. E. 



/. 22 ; not t. D, d. Ehrh. Calam. 97. 

 C. spicata. Huds. 405. Light/. 548. Not of Linnceus. 

 C. n. 136.1. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 187 ; vvith confused references. 

 C, palustris media, radice fibrosa, caule exquisite triangulari, spica 



brevi compactiori. Mich. Gen. 69. t. 33. y. 14. 

 Gramen cyperoides spicatum minus. Haii Syn. 424. 

 G. sylvaticum tenuifolium rigidiusculum, Moris, v. 3. 244. sect. 8. 



t. 12. f. 27. 

 /3. Carex muricata p. Fl. Br. 975. Willd. Sp. PL v. 4. 235. 



Gooden. Tr. of L. Soc. v. 2. 160. 

 C. loliacea ? Schk. Car. 22. t.E,e.f.9l. 

 C. nemorosa, fibrosa radice, angustifolia, minima, caule exquisite 



triangulari, spica brevi interrupta. Mich. Gen. 69. t. 33./. 12, R. 

 Gramen cyperoides,spicis minoribus,miniisquecompactis. ScheucJiz. 



Jgr. 488. t. 11./. 5. 



In moist pastures and shady places, especially where the soil is 

 sandy, frequent. 



/3. On dry gravelly ditch banks, near Eaton, Shropshire. Rev. E. 

 Williams. 



Perennial. May, June. 



Root tufted, of numerous shaggy fibres, not creeping. Herbage 

 of a bright grass green. Stems erect, 12 or 18 inches high, 

 naked, except at the bottom, triangular, striated ; the angles 

 more or less rough in their upper part. Leaves narrow, acute, 

 rough at the edges and keel, various in height, sometimes taller 

 than the stem ; pale, entire and sheathing at the base. Spike 

 oblong, obtuse, an inch or inch and half long, of a rusty hue, 

 mixed with green. Spikeleis 8 or 10, partly bractealcd, sessile, 

 with a few barren florets in the upper part of each, and more 



