730 CLXXII. CYPEHACEJ!. (G.' B. Clarke.) [Carex. 



Sect. 6. ATRAT.E. Spikes few (1-8), terminal male at base fern, at top. 

 Glumes dark-chestnut or black except keel. 



[See also C. melanantha, G. ustulata, and G. alopecuroides in the next 

 section.] 



92. C. alpina, Sw. in Liljeb. Svensk. Fl. ed. ii. 26 ; slender, spikes 

 (3-4) cuboid or short cylindric approximate short-peduncled, style 3-fid, 

 utricle obovoid-ellipsoid trigonous granular pale obscurely nerved smooth 

 or very nearly so, beak very small oblong emarginate, nut nearly filling 

 utricle. Boott Carex, iii. 112 (incl. var. /3 infuscata, partly], tt. 356. 357, 

 358 ; Boeck. in Linncea, xl. 394, & in Journ. Linn. Soc. xviii. 104. C. 

 Vablii, SchJcuhr. Riedgr. ii. 46, t. Ppp. fig. 154 ; Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. viii. 

 lb', t. 235 ; Kunth Enum. ii. 431. C. ini'uscata, Nees in Wic/Tit Contrib. 

 125 (partly) ; Kunth Enum. ii. 431. C. Lehmanni, Boott ms. ; Strachey 

 Gat. PI. Kumaon, p. 73 ; Boott Carex, iii. 113 (partly) ; Duthie in E. T. 

 Atkinson, Gaz. x. 618. 



WEST HIMALAYA, alt. 8-15,000 ft., from KASHMIR to KTJMAON, common; 

 Sikkim; Yeumtuug, alt. 15,000 ft., J. D. #. DISTRIB. Cold N. Hemisphere. 



Glabrous. Rhizome short, woody, slender. Stems 4-26 in., tufted. Leaves 

 usually much shorter than stem, near its base, narrow (-^ in.), weak, nearly smooth ; 

 not rarely a node with leaf is added 1-2 in. below the iufl. Spikes | by % in., 

 often sessile in a head, lowest scarcely in. distant ; lowest rarely 1 in. distant, then 

 on a peduncle ^1 in.; lowest bract usually about as long as infl. Glumes dense, 

 |- in., ovate, triangular-tipped, yellow keel very variable in width, often 0. Utricle 

 about -jL in., yellow or ultimately pale brown, nerveless or irregularly obscurely 

 few-nerved, loose subinflated but fitting nut ; oblong part of beak cylindric, short or 

 scarcely any, granular, quite smooth or very sparsely scabrid; style-branches 3, 

 protruded part about half length of utricle. C. Vahlii, Schkuhr, referred here by 

 Boott and others, is described and figured with utricles hairy all over, and in my 

 opinion should be excluded. As to the W. Nepal plants referred by Boott to C. 

 Lehmanni, see remarks under that plant. 



Var. erostrata; Boott, I.e. 71, t. 194, fig. 2; beak of utricle 0. Kunawur, 

 Eoyle. Tibet, alt. 15,000 ft., Strachey # Winterbottom. 



Var. 7 gracilenta (sp.), Boott ms. ; Strachey, Cat. PI. Kumaon, p. 73; very 

 slender, leaves scarcely -J^ in. broad, spikes small. Boeck. I. c. 185 ; Duthie I. c. 

 618. C. alpina, (3 infuscata (partly), Boott Carex, iii. 113, t. 359 ; Boeck. I. c. 394. 

 Kumaon, alt. 10,000 ft., Strachey fy Winterbottom (n. 20). Sikkim ; Lachen, alt. 

 11-14,000 ft, /. JD. H. Stems 2-16 in. Spikes i by i in., considerably smaller than 

 in the usual Himalayan form (G. infuscata, (sp.) Wight), but not different from 

 many European examples of C. alpina. Though Boeckeler keeps this up as a species, 

 Bjott finally accepted Spach's opinion that it is only a form of C. alpina. 



93. C. Lehmanni, Drejer, Synrib. Caricol. 13, t. 2 ; lowest spike 

 sometimes 1-3 in. distant, lowest bract usually much overtopping infl., 

 spikes and utricle smaller than those of C. alpina, otherwise as G. alpina, 

 Sw. Strachey Cat. PI. Kumaon, 73 ; Boott Garex, iii. 113, t. 361 ; Boeck. 

 in Linnsea, xl. 395. C. infuscata, /3 microcarpa, Nees in Wight Contrib. 

 125 ; Kunth Enum. ii. 431. Carex, Wall. Cat. 3381. 



HIMALAYA, alt. 11-13,500 ft. ; from KCMAON, Strachey fy Winterbottom, to 

 Sikkim, J. D. H., frequent. 



Exceedingly near C. alpina, Sw. Stems sometimes rnther stouter, acutely tri- 

 quetrous, scabrous, but not rarely slender nearly as in C. alpina. Utricle scarcely 

 T a 2 iii., often scabrous on the shoulders, whence spikes oiten oblong, narrower than 



