CAREX.] CYPERACE^E. 417 



Hootstock very stout, creeping, tufted. Stems 1-3 in., 3-gonous, smooth, 

 concealed amongst the narrow leaves. Spikeltts white, scattered up the 

 whole stem; male solitary, narrow, |-| in. ; ftmale 3-5, - in., enveloped 

 in the obtuse apiculate or truncate scarious silvery bracts. Glumes silvery, 

 clouded with pink and green. Perigynia greenish, 1 -ribbed on 2 faces, 

 beak variable. Fruit 3-quetrous, pale brown, smooth, beaked. DISTRIB. 

 Europe from Belgium southwards, Siberia. 



*** Stigmas 3 (2-3 in 57, paludosa). Fruit with a long, usually slender, often 

 forked beak (beak short in 45 eztensa, 53 slrigosa, 54 vesicaria sub-sp. 

 saxatilis, 57 paludosa, and 58 riparia ; see also 33 vaginata and 34 capil- 

 laris). 



t Perigynia hairy, nerved. Male spikelets several. 



43. C. hir'ta, L. ; leaves long flat hairy, bracts leafy, sheaths long, 

 spikelets long-pedicelled erect cylindric, perigynia ovoid turgid ribbed usu- 

 ally hirsute much longer than the ovate awned glumes, beak 2-cnspidate. 

 Damp copses, &c. from Cantire and Moray southwards, and in Ireland ; 



ascending to 1,200 ft. in N. of England ; fl. May-June. Rootstock long, 

 creeping, jointed, scaly. Stem slender, 1-2 ft., leafy, glabrous, 3-gonous, 

 shining. Leaves \-% in. broad, sheaths split. Spikelets ; male 2-3, close, 

 ^-1 in., pale, glistening; female 2-5, 1-1 ^ in., green, distant; pedicels 

 exserted ; lower bract exceeding the stem. Glumes small, broad, scarious, 

 midrib green herbaceous, awn rigid scabrid often spreading ; of male lanceo- 

 late hyaline. Perigynia large, \ in., sessile, plano-convex, narrowed into 

 the beak. Fruit 3-'quetrous, beaked, pale brown. DISTRIB. Europe, N. 

 Africa, Siberia, Dahuria. Syme describes a var. hirtiformis, Pers., with 

 glabrous leaves and glumes ; and var. elructeata (found near Epsom), with 

 glabrous obtuse glumes and leaves and bracts reduced to a subulate point, 

 which resembles C. ovalis. , 



44. C. filifor'mis, L. ; slender, leaves very long involute, bracts long 

 sheaths short, spikelets erect, perigynia narrow-ovoid turgid pubescent 

 equalling the lanceolate acuminate glumes, beak 2-cuspidate. 



Bogs and marshes, local ; rare in Ireland ; fl. May. Rootstock creeping, 

 stoloniferous. Stem 2-3 ft., slightly scabrid above, 3-gonous, leafy. Leave* 

 numerous, very slender, stiff ; sheaths red-brown, stout, lower 2-3 very 

 long, edges filamentous, without a blade. Male spikelets 2-3, very slender, 

 1-2^ in., brown ; female 1-3, \-\ in., rather lax-flowered ; lower bracts 

 filiform, overtopping the stem. Glumes chesnut-brown, with concolorous 

 margins ; midrib green, of male fl. narrower and more membranous. Peri- 



fynia \ in., plano-convex, green, narrowed into the beak. Fruit stipitate, 

 -quetrous. DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), Siberia, N. America. 



tf Perigynia glabrous. Male spikelets solitary ; females short, distant, pale. 

 Bracts leafy, sheaths long (except 45 extensa and 46 flava). 



45. C. exten'sa, Good. ; slender, leaves setaceous, bracts very long, 

 sheaths short, spikelets subsessile dark, perigynia rhombic or elliptic- 

 obovate 3-gonous inflated ribbed much larger than the broad mucronate 

 glumes, beak short straight smooth 2-toothed. 



Brackish marshes; fl. June. RooUtock tufted. Stem 10-18 in., 3-gonous, 

 smooth, slender. Leaves mostly below the middle, A-J'J in. broad, rigid, 

 flexuous, shorter than the stem ; margins involute. Spikelets 3-4, sub- 



