190 Mr. W, O. Priestley on some British species of Carex. 



row, linear, rougli at the edges and keel. Koot fibrous. Began 

 to flower last month. 



This Cm-ex is described by Mr. Babington in the last edition 

 of his ' Manual/ and said to have been found by Mr. W. Mitten 

 near Tonbridge Wells. It is certainly a very rare Carex in Bri- 

 tain, and has been cultivated with success in the gardens here. 

 As it has not previously been brought under the notice of this 

 Society, I have taken the liberty of reading the description I 

 made of the plant. 



This appears to be the true C. montana of Linnaeus. Dr. 

 Goodenough, although perhaps our most correct writer on this 

 genus of plants, thought it but a starved specimen of C. jnlu- 

 lifera, described as a second species by Linnseus, but it is essen- 

 tially different either from C. pilulifera or C. pracox. In C. pilu- 

 lifera the spikes when mature are rounded, the fruit spreading 

 in all directions ; whilst in C. montana they retain the ovate or 

 elliptical form ; again, the fruit and nut are both subglobose in 

 C. pilulifera, while in C. montana they are both triquetrous. 

 The habit and general appearance of the plant at once separate 

 it from C. prcecox. 



I have next to notice the fructification of C. intermedia. In 

 dissecting the fruit of this plant I at first found it invariably 

 abortive, and became afraid I should not be able to procure the 

 nut to add to my dissections, but fortunately having a consi- 

 derable number of specimens, I noticed one in which the sum- 

 mits of the upper and lower spikelets were occupied by what I 

 then thought immature florets ; on examining these I found them 

 to contain the nut perfectly developed, while the larger or in- 

 flated fruit, which is usually described by authors, was always 

 abortive. I at once looked on the latter as a monstrosity, and 

 the former as the true fruit, because it inclosed the nut. The 

 abortive fruit is oblong lanceolate, inflated, with a swollen beak, 

 slightly incurved, and is twice the length of its glume. The 

 fertile fruit is ovate lanceolate, straight, very narrowly winged, 

 and is scarcely longer than its glume. This abortive form is of 

 very general occurrence in C. intermedia ; a perfectly fertile spike 

 appears comparatively rare ; I cannot tell to what cause we must 

 attribute this anomaly. It seems not to be a form of ergot, as I 

 have some specimens of a Carex so diseased, and it is very dif- 

 ferent, being firm and solid, while that in C intermedia is hol- 

 low. It appears to undergo some such change as the fruit of 

 the common juniper found on the Pentland Hills. I sav/ a spe- 

 cimen of this Carex so changed, in the Museum of this Society, 

 marked " infested with insects," but I am unable to say whether 

 this be the cause of the monstrosity ; or if so, why the insects 

 should prefer this species to other individuals of the genus. 



