CAREX.] CYPERACE^. 461 



ft Perigynia glabrous. Male spikelets solitary ; female short, distant ; bracts 

 leafy, sheaths long (except 46 extensa and 47 flava). 



46. 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 acute or 

 mucronate glumes, beak short straight smooth 2-toothed. 



Brackish marshes, from Orkney southd. ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June. 

 Rootstock tufted. Stems 10-18 in., 3-gonous, smooth, slender. Leaves 

 mostly below the middle, T V~ T V m - broad, rigid, flexuous, shorter than the 

 stem ; margins involute. Spikelets 3-4, subsessile ; male |-f in., slender, 

 brown ; female 2-4, j-j| in., 2 upper or all contiguous ; bracts at length hori- 

 zontal, sheath variable. Glumes small, brown, midrib green, edges con- 

 colorous. Perigynia rather spreading, opaque, coriaceous, dull'green, dotted, 

 gradually narrowed into the beak. Nut shortly elliptic, olive-browh, 3- 

 quetrous. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia, N. and S. America. 



47. C. fla'va, L. ; stems curved, leaves flat, bracts long, sheaths short, 

 spikelets oblong green, perigynia spreading or deflexed ovoid 3-gonous in- 

 flated ribbed much exceeding the obtuse or subacute glumes, beak long 

 slender scabrid 2-cuspidate. 



Heaths, bogs, and marshes, from Orkney southd. ; ascends to 2,900 ft. in the 

 Highlands ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. May-June. Rootstock tufted, 

 stolons 0. Stems 3-18 in , angles rather acute. Leaves j% to nearly J in. 

 broad, chiefly radical, often recurved, shorter than the stem, usually flat. 

 Spikelets usually contiguous, sessile or pedicelled ; male ff-1 in., fusiform ; 

 female 2-4, |-| in., subcylindric, squarrose ; bracts spreading, sheaths 

 variable. Glumes small, usually green clouded with brown. Perigynia, 

 sessile, variable in size, green, coriaceous, gradually narrowed into the beak. 

 Nut short, 3-gonous, olive-brown, angles acute. DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), 

 Madeira, W. Asia, India, N. America. In the following sub-species the 

 spikelets are so variable that I have not introduced them. 



C. fla'va proper ; beak of perigynium decurved scabrid. VAR. C. lepidocar'pa, 

 Tausch. ; perigynium small, beak short nearly straight or abruptly deflexed 

 almost smooth. 



Sub-sp. C. (EDE'RI, Ehrh. ; usually smaller, beak of smaller perigynium 

 straighter scabrid. 



48. C. dis'tans, L. ; slender, leaves flat, bracts leafy, sheaths long, 

 spikelets distant lower pedicelled, perigynia suberect ovoid turgid ribbed 

 exceeding the ovate glumes, beak slender flat scabrid 2-cuspidate. 



Marshes and wet meadows, from Caithness southd. ; ascends to 1,900 ft. in the 

 Highlands ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June. Rootstock tufted, creeping. 

 Stems 10-18 in., 3-gonous, smooth or slightly scabrid above, leafy below the 

 middle. Leaves y 1 ^-^ in. broad, glaucous, often recurved. Spikelets : male 

 \-\ in., long-pedicelled, slender; female 1-3, |-1 in., very distant, erect, 

 cylindric-oblong ; lower bract not equalling the stem, and often not its 

 spikelet. Glumes broad, subacute, brown, midrib green, margins and tip 

 white. Perigynia sessile, green, opaque, gradually narrowed into the 



