CAR EX.] CYPERACEJB. 411 



Wet copses and meadows from York and Lancaster to Essex and Surrey ; 

 Lough Neagh in Ireland ; fi. June. Rootstock tufted, matted ; stolons 0. 

 Stems very many, 1-2 ft., 3-quetrous, scabrid, graceful, leafy. Leaves longer 

 than the stems, flaccid, flat, ^-J in. broad. Spike 1-2| in. ; bracts 0. 

 Spikelets erect or spreading, lower rarely distant. Glumes red-brown, midrib 

 green, edges white. Perigynia. pale, sessile, spreading, strongly ribbed, 

 gradually narrowed into the beak. Fruit oblong, obtuse, plano-convex. 

 DISTKIB. Europe (Arctic), Siberia, Dahuria, N. W. America. 



SECTION 3. Spikelets 2-6, short, ovoid, approximate, all subsimilar, 2-4 

 lower wholly female, upper male at the base only (rarely at the top or 

 throughout). Lowest bract foliaceous, sheath very short or 0. Stigmas 3. 



20. C. Buxbaum'ji, Wahl. ; leaves narrow, sheath-edges filamentous, 

 spikelets 3-5 subsessile, perigynia green ellipsoid nerved larger than the 

 lanceolate dark glume, beak 0. C. canescens, Auct. ; C. poh/gama, Schkuhr. 

 Stony banks of Harbour Is., Lough Neagh; fl. July. Rootstock short, creeping, 



stoloniferous. Stems 1-2 ft., rigid, 3-quetrous, leafy below. Leaves flat, -|- in. 

 broad ; sheaths red-brown, rigid, edges filamentous. Lower bracts leafy, 

 often exceeding the spike. Spikelets g-f in., obtuse,* conspicuous from the 

 small dark glumes and large broad imbricating perigynia. Glumes rounded, 

 mucronate acuminate or awned, dark red-brown, midrib green. Perigynia 

 plano-convex, beak reduced to a 2-fid mouth, ribs slender. Fruit obovoid, 

 3-quetrous, brown, covered with white dots. DISTRIB. Arctic and Alpine 

 Europe, N. Asia, N. America, Australian Alps. 



21. C. alpi'na, Swartz ; leaves short flat, spikelets 2-4 sessile sub- 

 globose, perigynia ovoid nerveless much larger than the ovate acute blackish 

 glumes, beak very short notched scabrid. C. Vahlii, Schk. 



Rocky ledges of the Alps of Aberdeen and Forfar, alt. 2,400-2,600 ft.; fl. 

 Aug. Rootstock with short stolons. Stem 6-1 8 in., subsolitary, rigid, 3- 

 quetrous, smooth or scaberulous above. Leaves short, recurved, fe-fe in. broad. 

 Spikelets ^-^ in., close, lateral subhorizontal, black ; bract slender. Glumes 

 crowded, subacute, broad, without a green midrib. Perigynia broad, 

 yellow-brown, scaberulous. Fruit ellipsoid or ovoid, 3-quetrous, pale. DIS- 

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



22. C. atrata, L. ; leaves broad, spikelets 4-6 pedicelled inclined 

 subcylindric, perigynia suborbicular 3-gonous compressed smooth larger 

 than the ovate subacute blackish glumes, beak short smooth. 



Ledges of Alpine rocks, N. Wales, and from Dumfries to Aberdeen, alt. 2,400 

 -3,700 ft.; fl. July- Aug. Rootstock tufted, small, stoloniferous. Stem 

 10-28 in., inclined, 3-gonous, hardly scabrid above. Leaves rather large, 

 4 <i in. broad, flat, keeled. Spikelets ^-j| in., rarely remote, uppermost some- 

 times wholly male ; bracts usually exceeding the spikelets, sheaths veiy 

 short. Glumes erect, imbricate. Beak short, slender. Fruit 3-quetrous, 

 elliptic. DISTRIB. Arctic and Alpine Europe, N. Asia, Himalaya, N. 

 America. Diandrous and 2-sexual flowers occur (Boott). 



SECTION 4. KpiJcelets mainly 1-sexual, lower all or chiefly female ; 

 upper different-looking, usually more slender, all or chiefly male. 



Stiamas 2 (rarely 3 in 27, vulgaris). Bracts equalling the female spike, 

 sheaths 0. (See also 54, vesicaria, sub-sp. saxatilis, and 57, paludosa.) 



