164 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



very stout, rather stiff, acutely-triqueti-ous, rough. Leaves as long as 

 or longer than the stem, rather flaccid, very broadly linear, flat, very 

 rough on the margins, pale bright green, not glaucous either above or 

 beneath. Male spike 1, rather shortly stalked, at first erect, after- 

 wards drooping, with very long subulate-aristate green glumes with 

 pale reddish-brown scarious margins below the long rough terminal 

 awn. Female spikes 3 to 5 (usually 4), approximate, all at the apex of 

 the stem, on very long greatly exscrted stalks, at first erect, afterwards 

 pendulous and arching, thickly c}'lindrical, very dense, very many- 

 flowered. Bracts very shortly sheathing, with very long foliaceous 

 laminfB exceeding the apex of the male spike. Glumes of the female 

 flowers subulate-aristate, tapering into very long rough awns, green, 

 with narrow white scarious margins at the base, nearly as long as but 

 much narrower than the fruit. Fruit ultimately spreading-reflexed, 

 stipitate, lanceolate-acuminate, plano-convex-trigonous, moderately in- 

 flated, with numerous strong nearly equal ribs, glabrous, green, ulti- 

 mately yellowish-Olive, insensibly narrowed into a long rather thick 

 straight smooth 2-toothed beak, about as long as the rest of the fruit ; 

 teeth very long, subulate, suberect, about one-third the length of the 

 rest of the beak. Stigmas 3. Nut pale yellow, elliptical, narrowed 

 at each end, triquetrous, rather closely covered on the sides by the 

 perigynium, which however greatly exceeds it in length. 



On the margins of ponds and ditches, and in wet woods. Rather 

 rare, but generally distributed throughout the south of England, ex- 

 tending north to Lancaster and York. It occurs near Forres in 

 Elgin, but is said to have been planted there; Lightfoot gives it as 

 occurring "in boggy places by the lakes in Isla, &c.," but no one 

 else appears to have found it in Scotland. Local and rare, but widely 

 distributed in Ireland. 



England, [Scotland,] Ireland. Perennial. Summer. 



Stem 1 to 3 feet high, with the upper leaves longer than the lower 

 ones. Leaves about I inch broad. Male spike 1 to 2 inches long. 

 Lowest bract often 1 foot or more long. Female spikes 1 to 3 inches 

 long. Fruit \ inch long. 



C. Pseudo-cyperus, which is by far the handsomest of the British 

 Carices, resembles no other species of the genus, except the North 

 American C. comosa, Boott. 



Cyperus-like Sedge. 



French, Gnrpx faux souchet. German, Cypergrasdhnliche Segge. 



