CTPEEACEiE. 553 



it be not found in other parts of the Scotch Highlands it must be expunged 

 from our Flora. Fl. sumtner. 



2. Sheathing Cottonsedge. Eriophorum vaginatum, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 873.) 



Stems tufteel, a foot high or more, covered at the base with a few loose 

 ragged sheaths, one or two of which bear Unear, almost subulate leaves, 

 shorter than the stem, and one or two of the upper sheaths inflated, witliout 

 any or only a very short blade. Spikelet solitary, terminal, ovoid, 6 to 8 

 lines long, of a deep olive-green. Hypogynous bristles very numerous to 

 each flower, forming at length very dense cottony tufts, nearly globular, 

 about an inch in diameter. 



In bogs and wet moors, in northern and central Europe, Eussian Asia, 

 and North America, and in the mountains of southern Europe. Extends 

 all over Britain, but especially abundant in the mountains of Scotland and 

 Ireland. Fl. summer. 



3. Common Cottonsedge. Eriophorum polystachynm, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 563. F. anguMfolium, t. 564, F. gracile, t. 2402, E. pules- 

 cens, t. 2633, and F. gracile, Suppl. t. 2886.) 



Eootstock creeping. Leaves few, mostly radical, much shorter than the 

 stem, more or less triangular, or channelled at the top or all the way along, 

 those on the stem often very short. Stems about a foot high, with a ter- 

 minal umbel of 2 or 3 to 8 or 10 or even more spikelets ; the inner ones ses- 

 sile, the outer ones more or less stalked and often drooping ; the 1 to 3 outer 

 bracts more or less leafy. Each spikelet ovoid or oblong, 5 or 6 lines long ; 

 the glumes thin, of an oHve green, with scarious edges, or sometimes alto- 

 gether brown. Hypogynous bristles very numerous, forming dense cottony 

 tufts, often attaining 1 to IJ inches in length. 



In bogs and wet moors, the commonest species in Europe, Eussian Asia, 

 and North America. Frequent in Britain. Fl. stMnmer. It is usually 

 divided into 3 species, the broad-leaved C. {F. latifoliimi), with leaves flat- 

 tened the greater part of their length; the slender C. {E. gracile), with very 

 slender leaves, and few, almost erect spikelets ; and the narroio-leaved C. 

 {E. angustifolium) , with intermediate leaves and more numerous spikelets. 

 Other characters, derived from the smoothness or roughness of the peduncles, 

 or from the length of the cottony bristles, do not appear to be near so con- 

 stant as has been supposed. 



VIII. KOBRESZA. KOBEESIA. 



A single species, differing from those Carexes in which the male and female 

 flowers are in the same spikelets, only m that the ovary is enclosed between 

 2 glume-like distinct scales instead of a single utricle. 



Some botanists include in the same genus one or two Continental species 

 with a very different apparent structure, although theoretically nearly allied 

 to tlie Bi'itish one, and all showing the connection between the genus Careor 

 and the rest of the family. 



1. Sedge-like Kobresia. Kobresia caricina, Willd. 

 {Schoenns monoicus, Eng. Bot. t. 1410.) 

 A low, Carex-like plant, forming dense tufts seldom above 6 inches high; 



3b 



