49 CYPERACEA 
glumes yellow-brown. An elegant little plant, which formerly grew in the 
Moss of Restenet, near Forfar, but has disappeared in consequence of the 
moss being drained. 
2. Hare’s-tail Cotton-grass (EH. vaginitum).—Stem round below, 
triangular above; lower sheaths of the stem terminating in long leaves, 
upper one leafless, inflated; spikelet oblong, many-flowered. A strikingly 
handsome plant, from 12—14 inches high, not unfrequently found in great 
abundance on damp moors, where it flowers in spring, but is made conspicuous 
later in the season by the enlarged bristles of the flower, which assume the 
appearance of white floss-silk. Each spikelet is about an inch and a half in 
diameter on a slender stalk, three-fourths of the upper portion of which is 
naked. Near the base is a loose striated sheath, and the very narrow leaves 
which clasp the stem are furnished with sheaths of the same character. 
3. Round-headed Cotton-grass (L. capitétum).—Stem round through- 
out ; lower sheaths bearing short leaves, upper one leafless. Resembling the 
last in habit, but smaller. Once reported by Mr. G. Don, from a rivulet on 
Ben Lawers, near perpetual snow. It flowered late in summer. 
* * Spikelets more than one. 
4. Broad-leaved Cotton-grass (E£. latifvliwm).—Stem hollow, tufted, 
upper half triangular; stalks of the spikelets rough ; leaves flat, becoming 
triangular above the middle. Flowering in May and June, in boggy ground ; 
rather rare. 
5. Narrow-leaved Cotton-grass (H. angustifélium).—Stems not tufted, 
round, or nearly so, solid; stalks of the spikelets smooth ; leaves becoming 
triangular above the middle. Boggy and peaty ground, common ; flowering 
in May and June. 
6. Slender Cotton-grass (L. grdcile).—Stem slightly triangular ; stalks 
of the spikelets downy; leaves triangular throughout, channelled. Boggy 
ground, rare. This species grows near Hagnaby, Yorkshire, at Whitemoor 
Pond, near Guildford ; on Ben Lawers and the Clova Mountains; and at 
Cwm Idwell, North Wales. It flowers in July. 
Great difference of opinion exists among botanists as to the number of 
species to which the many-spiked Cotton-grasses should be reduced. The 
three above described appear to be distinct ; and if the number and com- 
parative length of the bristles be taken into consideration, several others 
may be added. £. latifolium and E. angustifolium together form the E. poly- 
stachion of Linneus. E. angustifélium is by far the most common, and, without 
doubt, the most beautiful. Enlivening, as it frequently does, extensive 
tracts of moorland with its silky tufts, too delicate apparently to bear the 
gentlest breeze, yet bending unhurt before the sweeping gale, it converts the 
desert waste, as it were, into a flower-garden. For, though it is not in its 
perfect beauty until its seeds are matured, the heads of dazzling white down 
have on the landscape the effect of flowers, and might be mistaken at a 
distance for clusters of gigantic snowdrops, springing from a strange soil at 
a season yet more strange. It grows from twelve to eighteen inches high. 
With the silky substance which invests the seeds, paper and wicks of candles 
have been made and pillows stuffed. 
oe. a ele 
