CAREX.] CYPERACE&. 415 



elliptic-lanceolate 3-gonous smooth shining much exceeding the pale 



hyaline obtuse glumes, beak thin slender entire. 



Grassy, chiefly alpine banks and rocks, N. of England and throughout Scot- 

 land ; ascending to 2,700 ft. in the Highlands ; absent from Wales and 

 Ireland; fl. June- July.- Rootstock tufted. Stem 4-8 in., 3-gonous, smooth. 

 Leaves chiefly radical, soft. Spikelets small ; male very slender ; female 2-3, 

 ^ 75 in., shorter than the capillary pedicel ; upper bracts with hyaline tips, 

 lower much larger. Glumes scattered, embracing the fruit, caducous, 

 margins broad pale, nerves brown. Perigynia slightly decurved, not 

 ribbed. Fruit elliptic-ovoid, 3-quetrous. DISTRIB. Arctic N. and Alpine 

 Europe, N. Asia, N. America. 



35. C. pen'dula, ffuds.; stems tall leafy, leaves broad flat, bract- 

 sheaths long, spikelets many very long slender drooping, perigynia ovoid 

 turgid 3-gonous smooth membranous green much exceeding the awned 

 glumes, beak short terete decurved smooth notched. 



Damp woods, &c., from Lannrk and Elgin southwards; local in Ireland; fl. 

 May-June. Rootstock tutted, stolons 0. Stem 3-6 ft., 3-gonous, smooth 

 or scaberulous. Leaves pale-green, not glaucous beneath, ^-J in. broad. 

 Spikelets 3-5 in., males 1-3, inclined, sometimes interruptedly male and fern., 

 or fern, at the base only ; female subsessile, graceful, curved, obtuse, dense- 

 flowered, pedicels wholly included in the very leafy bracts. Glumes spreading, 

 small, oblong, obtuse or 2-fid, pale brown, awn hispid, midrib green, mar- 

 gins pale ragged. Perigynia narrow at both ends, gibbous above. Fruit 

 short, broad, pale, 3-quetrous. DISTRIB. Europe from Belgium southwards, 

 N. Africa. 



ft Periffynia hairy. Spikelets short in all but 41, 42. 



36. C. prae'cox, Jacq. ; leaves short flat curved, bract-sheaths short, 

 spikelets few close, perigynia broadly ellipsoid turgid 3-gonous hispid 

 brown equalling the brown obtuse or cuspidate glumes, beak very short. 

 Moors, heaths, and pastures ; ascends to nearly 2,300 ft. in the Highlands ; fl. 



April-May. RooUtock creeping, stoloniferous. Stems 6-12 in., 3-gonous, 

 quite naked above, smooth or slightly scabrid. Leaves - in. broad, densely 

 tufted, keeled. Spikelets crowded, subsessile ; male solitary, slender, erect ; 

 female 2-3, ^-| in., inclined, oblong, rather dense-flowered. Glumes small, 

 broad, edges brown, midrib green ; bracts very variable. Perigynia sub- 

 sessile, coriaceous, olive, opaque. Fruit 3-gonous, short, brown, crowned 

 with a minute ring. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Asia ; introd. in N. America. 



37. C. tomento sa, L. ; slender, leaves glaucous beneath, bract- 

 sheaths 0, spikelets few short close, perigynia obovoid turgid 3-gonous 

 pubescent green exceeding the small acute glumes, beak very short 

 notched. 



Wet meadows, Marston Measey, Wilts ; fl. June. Rootstock creeping, stoloni- 

 ferous. Stems 10-18 in., 3-quetrous, scaberulous above. Leaves in. broad, 

 curved, glabrous, flat. Spikelets subsessile ; male solitary, erect ; female 1-2, 

 inclined, ,^-J in. ; bracts long or short. Glumes very small, ovate, sometimes 

 cuspidate, midrib green, edges brown. Perigynia coriaceous, beak distinct 

 slightly decurved. Fruit 3-gonous, obovoid, pale. DISTRIB. Europe, from 

 the Baltic Is. southwards to France, and E. to Italy and Turkey. 



38. C. pilulif'era, L. ; slender, leaves recurved, bract-sheath 0, spikelets 



