322 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



Orithya oxypetala, Kunth. Enum. 4, p. 227 ; Ledeb. Fl. Ross. p. 4, p. 137. Open, pine 

 woods ; Yokohama. 



Allium Thunbergii, Don. ; Kunth I. c.p. 454. Siraoda. 



Fluggea Japonica, Richard ; Kunth, I.e. 5, p. 302. Convallaria Japonica, Linn. ; Thunb. 

 Yokohama, on the high land ; March. In fruit. 



Luzula campestris, DC. Yokohama and Hakodadi. A dwarf and condensed form of this 

 wide-spread species. 



Juncus xiphioides, E. Meyer in Presl, Rel. Hemic. 2, p. 143, & June. p. 50. Simoda. 

 Smaller than the California plant usually occurs, hut otherwise the same. Stem ancipital. 

 Seeds oblong-oval, with a conformed testa, apiculate at each end. 



Commelyna polygama, Roth, ex Kunth. Enum. 4. p. 37. Simoda ; common. Probably only 

 C. communis, for which Thunberg took it. 



Mariscus umbellatus, Vahl. Enum. 2, p. 376. Simoda. 



CAPJEX: By Dr. Boott, of London. 



Carex pdmila (Thunb. Fl. Jap. p. 39) : spicis 5, masculis 2, terminali cylindrica pedunculataj 

 altera breviori sessili contigua,' foemineis 3 oblongis crassis, inferioribus exserte pedunculatis 

 longiuscule bracteatis; stigmatibus 3 longis ; perigyniis ovatis rostratis bifurcatis nervatis 

 glabris (vel rostro interdum apice serrato) lutescentibus, squama lanceolata vel ovata acuminata 

 cuspidata purpurea vel pallida margine hyalina medio serrata brevioribus et longioribus. — Simo- 

 da, in the sands of the sea-shore. Culm about 5 inches high, stout, the base sheathed with 

 purplish rudiments of leaves ; the spike-bearing portion about 4 inches long. Leaves firm, 

 longer than the culm, carinate, the margin very scabrous. Bracts all, except sometimes the 

 uppermost, exceeding the culm ; the sheaths of the upper 5 lines long. Sterile spikes remote 

 from the fertile, purple, the terminal one an inch long. Fertile spikes 9 or 10 lines long, 3 or 

 4 lines wide ; the uppermost not sheathed. Peduncles ochreate at the base. Scales of the sterile 

 spikes purple, with a white hyaline margin, the lower obtusish, with the pale midrib a little 

 exserted. Scales of the fertile spikes purple, or in one form pale, cuspidate, with hyaline mar- 

 gins ; the lower ones narrower and longer, lanceolate ; the upper broader, ovate-acuminate, 

 shorter than the perigynium. Perigyniurn 3 lines long, nerved, yellowish, ovate, with a 

 broadish and bifurcate beak; its teeth obtuse, glabrous, or the beak sparingly serrate above. A 

 variety occurs with seven spikes, which are paler, four of them sterile, the lower scales of the fertile 

 spikes long-acuminate. I have no hesitation in referring the specimens here described to Carex 

 pumila of Tunberg, although Schkuhr's figure (Y Y) shows the scales shorter than in Dr. Mor- 

 row's specimens. These are not fully mature, and therefore not in all respects to be compared 

 satisfactorily with my specimens of C. littorea, Labill. ; but I have little doubt of the identity 

 of the Japanese plant with that of New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand. 

 The age would determine the subcoriaceous character of the female scales, the thick and 

 spongy consistence of the perigynium, and the more or less obliteration of its nerves in the 

 Japanese plant. In size, form, habit, leaves, and place of growth, the two plants agree ; but in 

 that of Japan, the female scales are longer, the nerves in some peryginia extend to the base of 

 the beak, and the leaves are shorter. In C. littorea the nerves are occasionally prominent, but 

 become apparently obliterated upwards as the perigynium swells, and in some cases they disap- 

 pear, except at the base, leaving a slight groove in their place. I have seen no specimens of C. 

 littorea like the variety of C. pumila, noticed above, though in some the lower scales are elongated. 



