82 85. CYPERACE.E. 



Eriophoeum capitatxbi, Linn. 



Area [15]. 



Incognit. Stated to have been found by George Don 

 " on a sand bank, by an alpine rivulet on Ben Lawers, 

 Scotland, near tlie limits of pei^ietual snow." But there 

 is no " perpetual " snow on Ben Lawers. And even sup- 

 posing the words to be simply a loose mode of expressing 

 a patch of late -lying snow, I have seen what would justify 

 this latter reading only in a hollow near the summit, 

 where there is no rivulet, and cannot be one from the 

 fissiu'ed and broken character of the rocks. It must be 

 remembered, however, that George Don was very inexact 

 in describing localities ; and that a bad description of a 

 station will not necessarily imply intentional falsehood. 

 There is said to be a specimen from Don in the herba- 

 rium of Sir W. J. Hooker, which "resembles E. capi- 

 tatum, but the upper part of its stem is triangular " (Bab. 

 Man. 3, p. 352). This is unsatisfactory. Is the specimen 

 one of E. capitatum, or not ? By the triangular stem, it 

 should rather be E. vaginatum. And yet, by the British 

 Flora, it would seem that Don's specimens were those of 

 E. capitatum, suggested to be of foreign origin. 



1199. Eriophorum vaginatum, Linn. 



Area general. 



South limit in Cornwall, South Hants, Sussex. 

 North limit in Shetland, Orkney, Hebrides. 

 Estimate of provinces 18. Estimate of counties 70. 



