91 
habitats; and it never is to be found with us so aggregated as to form quite a 
feature in the turf, as it does in higher and moorland districts. 
8. Carex remota, Z. Reported from 13 Districts; the one (Aymestry 
District) omitted doubtless from insufficient observation. This pretty Sedge is 
abundant everywhere in Herefordshire, and is not at all nice in choosing its places 
of growth, demanding only the neighbourhood of a ditch, or some comparatively 
stagnant water. The edges of pools which are in the process of being silted up with 
mud seem the position in which it attains its greatest perfection. Here it is con- 
spicuous among its companions for its narrow light green foliage, with a graceful 
curve, in which the fruiting spikes by reason of their long leafy bracts, also join. 
9. Carex axillaris, Good. Three Districts. This plant is the exact con- 
trary of the last, to which nevertheless it is closely allied, in being rare and ex- 
ceedingly local. Its first discovery in Herefordshire was due to Rev. J. F. Crouch, 
of whose gathering I have a specimen from Mosely Common, dated 1852. This 
remained its only station on record till 1879, when I found a single tuft on the 
brink of the Ledbury canal, near Hereford. In the following year I found it 
again in woods at the base of the Herefordshire Beacon : and in the same year I 
was informed by Mr. Towndrow (who kindly communicated specimens to the 
County collection) that it was ‘abundant in woods all round the base of the 
Malvern hills.” This is a singular instance of what seems to us the caprice of a 
shy and local plant, and shows our ignorance of a great part of the conditions 
which go to determine plant distribution. 
Mr. Towndrow gave me at the same time a remarkable variety of this plant, 
which has all the spikelets aggregated into a single head. This has not as yet 
been found on the Herefordshire side of the hills. 
10. Carex ovalis, Good. Ten Districts. Probably existing in all the 
Districts. Common enough, and pretty evenly distributed, this plant can yet not 
be termed abundant in Herefordshire. It is common (1) in the rich alluvial mea- 
dows adjoining the Wye ; (2) in poor wet pastures in the hill districts : but much 
of the intermediate country may be searched for it in vain. Mr. Towndrow in- 
forms me that the remarkable dwarf variety with foliaceous bracts (b. bracteata, 
L.C.,) is abundant on the Commons round Malvern. This should be looked for on 
some of the similar land which falls within Herefordshire, e.g., Bringsty Common, 
near Whitbourne. The typical plant however will occasionally be found with 
lengthened bracts; sometimes bracteate and bractless scapes thrown up from one 
root, showing the worthlessness of the length of the bract as a varietal character. 
11. Carex acuta, Z. Four Districts. This fine Sedge is locally abund- 
ant; but apparently it is confined to the lower lands. It reaches its greatest 
abundance about the lower course of the Wye, in the Ross District, where it 
occurs abundantly, fringing both the river bank itself and that of ditches and 
pools in the river meadows. It is very abundant also further down the river, in 
the districts between Monmouth and Chepstow. 
12. Carex vulgaris, ries. Eleven Districts ; most probably to be found 
in all. This is a far less local plant than the last. It does not seem to be confined 
to any particular soil or altitude: still it is only thinly scattered in Hereford- 
