cai{p:x forms wmr lono veduncles 18 



(3) "Yes, teiuling' towards tho inoru cxtreiiie ' nionstrositv ' 

 tonus." Here the giuines and leaves are almost normal. The llower- 

 heads very distant. 



(4) " Yes. Fruit normal. This comes under the var. spadicca.''' 



(5) *' Yes." (Care.v aci(f(fo7VJiis Ehrh. iyi)iciiL) 



Forms 1 and 2 are apparently analogous, in regard to the main 

 feature, to the variety gracilis of 0. riparia ; and have the loose 

 spikes (laxiflores) of that variety. The spikelets are quite distant in 

 two specimens on sheet 1. I am unaware if any name has been given 

 to such long peduncled a form. At Max it was growing in some 

 quantit}^ at the border of the mill-stream. Besides 6'. sjJctdicea lioth., 

 which liouy gives . under the, to us. rather vague term " race," he 

 mentions the sub-var. dcpauperafa (Lange,j/j>;"o car.) nob. var. hracliy- 

 staclii/s Lambert (1907). Epis femelles plus courts (1 cent. env. de 

 long.); and vai: abhreviata (Beck, j^ro var.) noh. :=\2(,y. hracliyl( pis 

 Lambert. Ecailles femelles tres courtes, presque entierement cachees 

 par les utricules. 



In recent years I have gathered two or three other species of 

 Carex with very long filiform peduncles, notably C.JJacca Schreb. 

 (C. glauca Scop, the earlier name) with some of the peduncles live 

 inches (10-12 dec.) long and springing from the base. These 

 thread-like peduncles bear heads of $ flowers only. Normal thicker 

 stems bearing heads of both sexes arise from the same root-stock. I 

 believe the French would call this gynobasique, but I find no reference 

 to it under this species. These specimens were growing in some 

 number in gravel at the side of a new^ road by Leigh Woods, Bristol, 

 May 31, 1916. Exanq^les were sent to Kew and elsewhere. In 

 1920 I gathered in Leigh Woods specimens of C. jjallescens with the 

 same tendenc}^ They were associated with a very tall growth of 

 C.flacca with thread-like peduncles. 



Unless simply a matter "of opinion," it would be interesting to 

 know if all such examples of Carex, including C. vesicaria L. 

 var. penduia Uechtr. Herb., should be considered varieties ; or mon- 

 strosities, as suggested by Marshall in regard to two of the above 

 paliidosa series ; or merely accidental forms due to habitat or some 

 other ecological factor. 



Note. — Husnot (Cyperacees, 1905-6) observes that in C. riparia 

 and C. paludusa the $ lower spike is sometimes very distant from 

 the others, borne on a long peduncle emerging from the long sheafh 

 of the upper leaf. (I have such specimens with peduncle 10 cent, 

 long.) Under C. vulyaris he gives var. hasayyna Keichb. lil. 

 " Pedoncule inferieur tres long et grele, naissant dans le has de la 

 tio-e." 



