110 ENGLISH BOTANY 



but slightly drooping at the apex while in flower, rather stout, rigid, 

 triquetrous, rough towards the apex, or very rarely smooth through- 

 out. Leaves about as long as the stem, erect, rather flaccid, bi-oadly 

 linear, flat, rough on the margins, dull green above, slightly glaucous 

 beneath; sheaths entire, not filamentous at the margins, all with 

 lamina? except the very lowest. Male spikes 2 or 3 (rarely only 1), 

 cylindrical. Female spikes 3 to 5, subapproximate or rather remote, 

 subsessile, or the lower ones shortly stalked, ultimately erect, rarely 

 slightly di-ooping, cylindi'ical, with the fruits densely imbricated all 

 round. Bracts foliaceous, not sheathing, the lowest one reaching to 

 the apex of the male spike or exceeding it, with 2 long narrow adnate 

 white or pale brownish scarious auricles at the base, resembling a split 

 sheath much longer than the width of the bract. Glumes of the female 

 flowers narrowly lanceolate, acute or obtuse, reddish-black or reddish- 

 brown with a green midrib and concolorous margins, equalling or 

 exceeding or shorter than but always much narrower than the fruit. 

 Fruit ascending, substipitate, oval, acuminated at each end, lenticular, 

 smooth, faintly and shortly ribbed on both sides, pale green or pale 

 fawn-colour, -with a very short cylindrical entire smooth or slightly 

 rough point or beak. Stigmas 2. Nut pale olive, obovate-rhombic, 

 lenticular. 



By the sides of streams, ditches, and rivers. Rather common, and 

 generally distributed in England. Reported on good authority to 

 occur in Scotland, but I have seen no Scotch specimens, and shoidd 

 not be surj^rised to find that most of the Scotch C. acuta proved to 

 be C. aquatilis, var. Watsoni. Local, but widely distributed in 

 L'eland. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Spring, early Summer. 



A variable plant, with stems 1 to 3 feet high. Leaves :f to f inch 

 broad or more, revolute on the margins towards the apex when dried 

 without much pressure. Male spikes variable in number (rarely only 

 1), 2 to 3 inches long. Female spikes 2 to 4 inches long or even 

 more, sometunes with a few male flowers at the apex, but less gene- 

 rally so than in C. stricta, drooping while in flower, afterwards usually 

 erect or nearly so. Glumes variable in length with respect to the fruit, 

 being sometimes shorter, sometimes equal to, and sometimes exceeding 

 the fruit, purplish-black, more rarely reddish-brown. Fruit ^ inch 

 long. Auricles of the bracts adnate, resembling a rather short sheath 

 split down the front to the base. 



Distinguished from C. stricta by the sheaths at the base of the stem 

 not having filamentous margins, and by the spikes being generally 

 longer, and with the fruit more regularly imbricated and less adpressed. 



