3i8 GLUMACEiE 



shorter than the stems ; spikelets 2 or 3, the terminal one male, 

 about 1 inch long, the others female, about \ inch long, erect, 

 nearly sessile ; lower bract leafy, sheathless ; fruits downy, not 

 beaked. Moist meadows in Wiltshire and E. Gloucester ; very 

 rare. Fl. June. Perennial. 



53. C. glaitca (Glaucous Sedge). Sometimes called C. flacca. 

 Rootstock creeping ; stems 6-18 inches high ; leaves glaucous ; 

 male spikelets usually 2 or 3 ; female 2 or 3 ; all on rather long 

 stalks, the female {- 1 inch long, often drooping when ripe ; glumes 

 dark brown ; fruits not beaked. Marshes and wet meadows ; 

 common. Fl. June. Perennial. 



** Fruit usually with a long beak 



f Male spikelet 1, rarely 2 or more 



\ Style ^-branched 



54. C. atrofusca (Dusky Sedge). Rootstock shortly creeping ; 

 stems erect, 6-12 inches high, leafy only at the base ; leaves short, 

 broad ; male spikelet \-\ inch long ; female spikelets 2-4, often 

 slightly longer, pendulous on rather long stalks ; brads slightly 

 sheathing, the lowest with a short leafy tip ; glumes dark purple 

 with a pale midrib. Ben Lawers ; probably now extinct. Fl. July. 

 Perennial. 



55. C. Sadleri (Cold Sedge). Also called C. frigida. Stems 3-12 

 inches high, with broad leaves ; male spikelet solitary, terminal ; 

 female spikelets 3-6, spindle-shaped, the upper sessile, the lower 

 finally pendulous on long stalks ; bracts sheathing, leaf-like ; 

 glumes dark brown. Wet turf in Aberdeenshire ; very rare. Fl. 

 August. Perennial. 



56. C. flava (Yellow Sedge). Usually densely tufted, seldom 

 reaching 1 foot high, leafy, becoming yellowish, especially the 

 fruiting spikelets ; leaves flat ; male spikelet terminal, - inch 

 long ; female spikelets 1-3, sessile or shortly stalked, nearly globose 

 when ripe ; brads all leafy and sheathing ; fruits distinctly nerved 

 and beaked, very spreading or reflexed. Boggy places ; common. 

 Fl. May, June. Perennial. 



57. C. Oederi (Oeder's Sedge). Distinguished from C. flava by 

 its smaller, more numerous fruits, which have a shorter beak, 

 narrow at the base. Bogs ; rather rare. Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



58. C. externa (Long-bracteated Sedge). Similar to C. flava 

 and C. distans, but distinguished from both by the longer and 

 narrower leafy bracts, the lowest of which are usually much longer 

 than the stems ; spikelets brown-green ; fruits triangular, strongly 

 nerved. Marshes, usually near the sea ; rather common. Fl. June. 

 Perennial. 



