Carex.] OLXXII. CYPERACE^S. (C. B. Clarke.) 731 



in C. alpina. Strachey & Winterbottom, n. 21, the plant in Herb. Kew inscribed 

 by Boott as C. Lehmanni, Drejer, is, in my opinion, fairly typical C. alpina. 



94. C. obscura, Nees in Wight Contrib. 126 ; spikes (3-7) oblong or 

 cylindric approximate short-peduncled erect dense, style 3-fid, utricle 

 oblong narrowed to each end trigonous granular yellow smooth, beak 

 pyramidal scabrid emarginate, nut nearly filling utricle. Kwnth Enum. ii. 

 515 ; Strachey Cat. PL Kumaon, 73 ; Boott Carex, i. 70, t. 192 ; Boeck. in 

 Linnsea, xl, 395. C. inf uscata, Nees in Wight Contrib. 125 (partly). C. 

 hasmatostoma, Serb. Jacquem. 



WEST HIMALAYA, alt. 8-10,500 ft., from Kashmir, C. B. Clarice, to Kumaon, 

 Strachey fy Winterbottom. 



Glabrous. Stoloniferous. Stems 1-2 ft., rather slender. Leaves often over- 

 topping stem, i in. broad, flat, weak (the leaf so commonly seen 1-3 in. below the 

 infl. in C. alpina never (?) occurs here). Spikes often very close, subsessila, or 

 lowest sometimes 2 in. distant on a 1 in. peduncle, f by i in., dark chestnut or black, 

 terminal occasionally wholly male; lowest bract usually overtopping infl. Glumes 

 ovate, triangular-tipped, dark chestnut, often yellow on keel. Utricle ^ in. as 

 long as glume, less than -^ in. broad, very obscurely inflated, nerves irregular or 

 obscure ; beak none, except hollow elongate pyramidal part of utricle. Style-branches 

 shorter than the utricle. The plant here described as typical C. obscura is Royle's, 

 n. 118 (C. hsematostoma, Herb. Jacquem.), which is C. obscura, Munro and Boott, 

 but was C. infuscata of Nees. C. parvibracteata, Nees, referred here by Boott 

 (Carex, iii. 108j, is = C. psycrophila, Nees. 



Var. /3 brachycarpa ; utricle much shorter obovoid-ellipsoid narrowed very 

 suddenly into a short-oblong beak scabrous on shoulders granular (not shining 

 yellow) when ripe. Himalaya, alt. 10-12,000 ft., from Simla, Duthie, to Sikkim, 

 J. D. H., &c. This is Boeckeler's C. obscura. Utricle usually nerveless or nearly 

 so. Basal sheaths a shining horny-brown. Spikes often uniform black. 



95. C. atrata, Linn. Sp. PI. 1387; spikes 3-6 large approximate 

 cylindric dense lowest peduncled nodding, glumes ovate acuminate, style 

 o-fid, utricle large ovoid or ellipsoid inflated yellow-brown smooth beak- 

 less nearly nerveless, nut sessile much smaller than utricle. Schkuhr 

 Riedyr. i. 52, & ii. 42, t. X. fig. 77 ; Kunth Enum. ii. 433 ; Eeichb. Ic. Fl. 

 Germ. viii. 16, t. 237 ; Boott Carex, in. 114, tt. 362-364 ; Boeck. in Linnsea, 

 xl. 398. C. aterrima, Hoppe in Sturm Fl. Deutsch. [xxi. 3] 12 ; Kunth I. c. 

 434; Reich. I.e. t. 236. C. caucasica, Stev. in Mem. Soc. Hose. iv. 68; 

 Kunth I. c. 433. 



KASHMIR, alt. 11,000 ft., frequent, C. B. Clarke. SIKKIM, alt. 11-17,000 ft., 

 J. D. H., King. DISTBIB. Cold N. Hemisphere. 



Glabrous. Stoloniferous. Stems 1 in. apart on the creeping rhizome, 2 ft., 

 medium stout, triquetrous scabrous at top. Leaves often as long as stem, | i in. 

 broad. Spikes f-1 by |-| in. ; lowest ^-2 in. distant, sometimes compound ; lowest 

 peduncle l-2 in., rather slender; lowest bract usually overtopping infl. Glumes 

 %jf in., fern, often nearly uniformly black except margin, sometimes with yellow 

 keel, male paler usually with yellow keel. Utricle by i in., plane-convex, shining, 

 triangular at both ends, slightly granular, finally shining ; mouth small, round, entire 

 or with a short slit on one side. Style~branches much shorter than utricle, occa- 

 sionally the entire protruded part of style is nearly as long as the branches. Nut 

 ellipsoid or obovoid, trigonous, less than half the length of nut and about half its 

 breadth. Much of Boott's Indian C. atrata is C. nivalis, Boott. 



96. C. Duthiei, C. B. Clarice; spikes approximate, lowest very shortly 

 peduncled, glumes acuminate linear- tipped, utricle narrow oblong, nut 

 small stalked nearly filling utricle, otherwise as (7. atrata. 



