CYPERACE^. 127 



SPECIES XXXVIII.— CAR EX PILULIFERA. Linn. 



Plate MDCLIH. 



licicli. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. VIH. Tab. CCLX. 

 BUU, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. G79. 



Rootstock den.sely ca^spito-se, with no elongate creeping branches 

 or stolons. Stem erect in flower, arching and recumbent in fruit, 

 very slender, weak, triquetrous, very slightly rough at the apex. 

 Leaves recurved-ascending, shorter than the stem ; those at the base 

 of the flowering stems a little shorter than the others; all rather stiff', 

 linear or narrowly-linear, flat, rough on the margins, bright green, not 

 glaucous. Male spike 1, sessile, linear-fusiform. Female spikes 3 to 5, 

 approximate, or the lower one a little removed from the rest, sessile, 

 ascending-erect, subglobular-ovoid, dense, 6- to 12-flowered. Bracts 

 not sheathing, the lowest one herbaceous, subulate or foliaceous, 

 longer than its spike, sometimes reaching to or extending beyond the 

 apex of the male spike, but usually not so long. Glumes of the 

 female flowers ovate, acuminate or acuminate-cuspidate, all very acute, 

 concave, purplish-brown, with green midribs and narrow white scarious 

 margins, as long as or a httle longer than and as broad as the fruit. 

 Fruit erect-ascending, stipitate, roundish-obovate, subglobose-turbinate, 

 scarcely trigonous, abruptly narrowed at the base, with only 2 out of 

 the 3 angles prominent, with 2 ribs in the uppermost face, finely 

 pubescent, green, ultimately greenish-olive, abruptly acuminated into 

 a short slightly bifid beak. Stigmas 3. Nut scarcely stipitate, yel- 

 lowish, roundish-turbinate, scarcely trigonous, obtuse. 



On heaths and pastures, more rarely in woods. Common, and 

 generally distributed. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Early Summer. 



Plant growing in large dense tufts. Stems 4 to 18 inches long, at 

 length arching so much that the fruit lies on the ground. Leaves 

 about \ to \ inch wide ; those of the barren shoots longer than those 

 at the base of the flowering stem, but not conspicuously so as in C. 

 niontana. Male spike 1 to |^ inch long; female spikes -^ to \ inch 

 long. Fruit J inch long, nearly globose, with 2 elevated lines on the 

 upper surface, immediate within the 2 angles which bound the upper 

 face, but the third or lowest angle is generally not even indicated, the 

 back of the fruit being rounded off" and very tumid. 



Round-headed Sedge. 



French, Carex a pilules. German, PiUentragende Segge. 



