SAN 11 SI DGE 213 



Essential Spkcii-ic CiiAKAcrKus: — 



321. Siir/'iis iiiariliiinis.. L. Stem c\is|)iii)S(_-, leaves luiiiKjiuus, 

 furrowed, linear, spikelets in c\ inc. nianv, l)ro\\n. 



Sand Sedge (Carex armaria, L. ) 



This common m.iriume sedi^e is tonml in ilu' Xorili 1 CmiJerale 

 Zone in I^nrope and Siheri.i, Iml not in an\ iarl\ plant beds. It 

 occurs in all maritime counties, excepi W . Kciu, S. I.inrs, N, Eliudes, 

 as far north as the .Shetland Islands. Inland it is rmind in .Sinrc)-, 

 Xorfolk, -Suttolk, Irclantl, and the Channel Islands. 



The .Sand .Sedj^c is a familiar seaside species, which is very wiiUly 

 distributed ami common on sandy coasts, growing on sand dunes and 

 elsewhere at high-water mark amongst grasses and herbage, and helping 

 to bind it together by its numerous stolons. 



From a creeping root, which forms a matted kind of growth o\er 

 a wide area, the stems arc but short, with Imig. underground trailing 

 shoots lying on or near the surface, curved, 3-sided,' and roughish. 

 The leaves are rigid, with the margins rolled back. The bracts resemble 

 the lea\'es. the lower ones Ix-ing subfoliaceous and nicndiraiKms. 



The (lowers are in spikelets. borne- in a terminal .spike, widi ban'cn 

 upper male flowers, the fertile ones below, many-flowered, crowded, and 

 interrupted. The spikes are flattened at the margin, ami pale brown. 

 The nut is bro\\nish in colour, and flat, plano-convex, with 1 ritlges. 

 There are 2 stigmas w ith branchetl styles. The spikelets are more or 

 less unisexual. 



The .Sand .Sedge is 6 in. high. The flowers are found in |une. 

 The plant is perennial, propagating itself rapidly in loose sand, on 

 which account it is used for planting to keep the coast unimpaired. 



The flowers are proterogynous, the stigmas ripening first, bringing 

 about cross-pollination, and they are wind-pollinated. The flowers 

 are solitary, and the lower are female, the upper male, and those in 

 the middle are bisexual. There are 2-3 stamens ami 2 stigmas. 



The nut. a utricle (one-seeded), when ripe falls in the immediate 

 vicinitv of the parent plants, being indehiscent, ami thus clumps of the 

 plant are formed in course of time. The plant is also reproduced 

 vegetatively to a very great e.xtent. 



It is a -salt-lover, living in a .saline soil, and at the .same time a 

 saml plant, requiring a .sand soil. 



Two stages of the fungi Puccinia arcnariicola ami /'. sc/ia'/cnaiia 



• I'ossililv connected wilh the threefold arrangement of the leaves. 



