450 GYPERAGEjE. [Carex. 



Wet meadows and marshes, from Lanark and Aberdeen southd. ; ascends to 

 1,200 ft. in the Highlands ; Ireland ; fl. June. — Rootstook creeping. Stems 

 1-3 ft., stouter than in C. divi'sa, leafy, 3-gonous, scaberulous above. Leaves 

 J-£ in. broad, fiat. Spike |-3 in., subdistichous, pale brown, sometimes 

 compound at the base, the upper and lower spikelets usually wholly male, 

 intermediate chiefly male ; bract never large and leafy. Nut ovoid, ferrugi- 

 nous. — Distrib. Europe, N. Asia, N. America. 



9. C. arena'ria, L. ; stems short, spike oblong, bracts setaceous, peri- 

 gynia substipitate elliptic-ovoid ribbed winged exceeding the subaristate 

 glumes, wing broad and 2-fid beak serrulate. 



Sandy sea-shores, N. to Shetland, and inland in Surrey, Norfolk, and Suffolk ; 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June. — Very near C. disticha, but habit 

 different, shorter ; leaves rigid, curved ; glumes more mucronate, and fruit 

 with a broad coriaceous wing. Rootstock very long, stout, branched, binding 

 the sands. Stems 8-12 in., stout, curved, 3-quetrous, scabrid above. Leaves 

 chiefly radical, stiff, margins involute. Spike 1-3 in., compressed, pale 

 brown. Spikelets many, lower female, upper usually male, intermediate 2- 

 sexual. Nut plano-convex, chestnut, shining. — Distrib. Europe, Siberia. 



Var. C. liger'ica, Gay, is a more slender form with female spikelets at the 

 top. — Scilly Islands. N. and W. Europe. 



** Spikelets male at the top only, in compound heads spikes or panicles (rarely 

 simply spiked or capitate in 12, murica'ta; see also 8, dis'ticha). 



10. C. panicula'ta, L. ; stout, rootstock very short, spikelets many in 

 a broad or narrow elongate panicle, perigynia ovoid many-nerved below 

 broadly 3-gonous equalling the pale margined ovate subaristate glumes, 

 beak narrow 2-toothed serrulate. 



"Wet copses and marshes, from Orkney southd. ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. 

 June-July. — Rootstocks densely matted, forming tussocks 2-4 ft. diam. 

 Stems 1-4 ft., leafy, stout, 3-quetrous, scaberulous above. Leaves harsh, 

 long, narrow, flat. Panicle 2-6 in., very variable, rarely reduced to a simple 

 spike, pale brown. Branches short or long ; bracts or setaceous. Spikelets 

 crowded, pale brown. Perigynia truncate or cordate below, opaque, narrowed 

 into the long beak. Nut ovoid, base narrowed, biconvex, base of style 

 tumid. — Distrib. From Sweden southd., Canaries, W. Siberia. 



C. panicula'ta proper; panicle usually broad. 



Sub-sp. C. paradox'a, Willd. ; stem clothed below with black erect nerves of 

 old sheaths, panicles smaller laxer, beak of perigynia narrower split to the 

 base with overlapping margins, nerves as in C. panicula'ta. — Bogs, very 

 rare ; Middlesex, Norfolk, York, Westmeath. — Distrib. Europe (Arctic), 

 Siberia. 



11. C. teretius'cula, Good. ; slender, rootstock obliquely creeping, 

 panicle narrow spike-like, spikelets few, perigynia spreading ovoid turgid 

 few-nerved exceeding the ovate acuminate glumes, beak long rough 2- 

 toothed. 



Bogs and meadows, from Caithness to Devon and Kent ; Ireland ; fl. June. — 

 Near C. panicula'ta, but forming scattered tufts (not tussocks), rootstock 

 creeping; stems wiry, much more slender; spike shorter, broader, more 



