BLYSMUS.] CYPERACEJE. 403 



S pikelets mxKy, Jin., pale brown. Bristles barbed. Fruit pale. DISTRTB. 



Europe, excl. Spain Greece and Turkey, Siberia. 



2. B. ru'fus, Link ; leaves ^-terete smooth, lowest glume not ribbed 

 equalling the spikelet. 

 Wet pastures, especially near the sea, from Anglesea and Durham northwards ; 



N. half of Ireland ; fl. July. Rootstnck creeping. Stems tufted, 3-12 in. 



Leaves short, channelled. Spikes ^- in., chesnut- brown. Spikelets few, 



short. Bristles short, rough, very deciduous. Fruit brown. DiSTBiB. 



Scandinavia (Arctic), N. Germany, Siberia, Dahuria, Himalaya. 



5. ERIOPH'ORUM, L. COTTON-GRASS. 



Perennial, tufted herbs. Spikelets terminal or lateral, solitary or cymose, 

 terete. Glumes imbricate all round the rachis, all but 2-3 lowest flowering. 

 Flowers 2-sexual. Bristles 4-6 or very many, capillary, flat, at length 

 greatly exceeding the spikelets. Stamens 1-3. Style deciduous, base not 

 tumid, stigmas 2-3. Fruit 3-gonous or compressed. DISTRIB. N. temp, 

 and arctic regions ; species about 12. ETYM. Zpiov and cpopit, from the 

 cottony heads. 



* Spikelet solitary terminal, ebracteate, 



1. E. vagina'tum, L. ; stem glabrous, leaves filiform 3-quetrous, spike 

 ovoid many-flowered, bristles very many. 



Boggy moors, ascending to near 3,000 ft. in the Highlands ; fl. April-May. 

 Rootstock short. Stems many, tufted, 6-10 in., longer in fruit, terete below, 

 3-gonous above, with 1-2 inflated leafless sheaths above the middle. Leaves 

 very short. Spikelets f-1 in., erect. Glumes hyaline, broadly ovate, olive- 

 green. Fruit obovoid, obtuse, mucronate, compressed. DISTRIB. Europe 

 (Arctic), excl. Turkey, Siberia, W. Asia, N.W. Tibet, N. America. 



2. E. alpinum, L. ; stem rough 3-gonous, leaves setaceous, spike narrow- 

 oblong few-flowered, bristles 4-6 crumpled. 



Spongy bogs, Forfar (now extinct), Sutherland ? fl. June. Rootstock creeping, 

 producing a series of stems and leaves. Stems 6-10 in., very slender, rigid. 

 Leaves short, rough, channelled, keeled. Spikes in., erect, oblong-lanceo- 

 late. Glumes yellow-brown. Fruit minute, obovoid, 3-gonous. DISTRIB. 

 Arctic and Alpine Europe, N. Asia, N. America. 



** Spikelets in lateral corymbose cymes, drooping, Iracteate. 



3. E. polysta'chyon, L. ; stem rigid obtusely 3-gonous, leaves smooth 

 flat, tip 3-gonous, bracts 2-3, spikelets 4-12, fruit obovoid mucronate. 

 Bogs, ascending to near 3,500 ft. in the Highlands ; fl. May-June. Rootstock 



stout. Stems 6-18 in., stout or slender, smooth, leafy. Leaves chiefly 

 radical, variable in breadth. Heads rarely solitary, very variable in number, 

 size, and length of peduncles. Glumes J in., lead -coloured, oblong- or 

 ovate-lanceolate, membranous. Briatles when fully grown l-2 in. DISTRIB. 

 Europe (Arctic), N. Asia, N. America. 



Sub-sp. ANGDSTIFO'LIUM proper, Roth (sp.) ; rootstock long, stems not tufted 

 solid, leaves channelled 3-gonous above the middle, branches of cyme smooth, 



g'.umes ovate, margins broad scarious. E. gracile, Sm. not Koch, 

 -sp. LATIFO'LIUM, Hoppe (sp.) ; rootstock short, stems tufted hollow, leaves 

 flat tip short 3-gonous, branches of cyme scaberulous, glumes lanceolate 

 with very narrow scarious margins. E. pubescent, Sm. Local ; ascends only 

 to 1,500 ft. in the N. of England ; very rare in Ireland. 



D D 2 



