730 CLXXii. CYPERACEA (C. B. Clarke.) \_Carex, 



Sect. 6. Atbat^. Spikes few (1-8), terminal male at base fern, at top. 

 Glumes dark-chestnut or black except keel. 



[See also G. melanantha, 0. ustuiata, and G. alopecuroides in the next 

 section.] 



92. C. alpina, 8w. in lAljeb. Svensh. Fl. ed. ii. 26 ; slender, spikes 

 (3-4) cuboid or short oyUndrio approximate stort-peduncled, style 3-fid, 

 utricle obovoid-ellipsoid trigonous granular pale obscurely nerved smooth 

 or very nearly so, beak very small oblong emarginate, nut nearly filling 

 utricle. Boott Carex, iii. 112 (incl. var. /3 infuscata, partly), tt. 356, 367, 

 358 ; BoecTc. in lAnnaea, xl. 394, & in Journ. Linn. Soc. xviii. 104. C. 

 Vablii, BchTcuhr. Biedgr. ii. 46, t. Ppp. fig. 1S4 ; Beichb. Ic. Fl. Oerm. viii. 

 It), t. 235 ; Kunth JEnum. ii. 431. C. infuscata, Nees in Wight Contrib. 

 126 (j)artly) ; Kunth Enum. ii. 431. 0. Lebmanni, Boott ms. ; Strachey 

 Cat. Fl. Kumaon, p. 73 ; Boott Carex, iii. 113 (partli/) ; Duthie in E. T. 

 Athinson, Gaz. x. 618. 



Wesi Himalaya, alt. 8-15,000 ft., from Kashmir to KuMAOir, common; 

 Sikkim; Teumtung, alt. 15,000 ft., J.D. ff.— Distbib. Cold N. Hemisphere. 



Glabrous. Mhizome short, woody, slender. StemB 4-26 in., tnfted. Leaves 

 usually much shorter than stem, near its base, narrow (J^ in.), weak, nearly smooth ; 

 not rarely a node with leaf is added 1-2 in. below the infl. Spi&es J-J by i in., 

 often sessile in a head, lowest scarcely i in. distant ; lowest rarely 1 in. distant, then 

 on a peduncle ^1 in.; lowest bract usually about as long as infl. Glumes dense, 

 J in., ovate, triangular-tipped, yellow Iteel very variable in width, often 0. Utricle 

 about -jSj in., yellow or ultimately pale brown, nerveless or irregularly obscurely 

 few-nerved, loose subinfliited but fitting nut ; oblong part of beak cylindric, short or 

 scarcely any, granular, quite smooth or very sparsely scabrid; style-branches 3, 

 protruded part about half length of utricle. — C. Vahlii, Schkuhr, referred here by 

 Hoott and others, is described and figured with utricles hairy all over, and in my 

 opinion should be excluded. As to the W. Nepal plants referred by Boott to C. 

 Lehmanni, see remarks under that plant. 



Var. $ erostrata ; Boott, 1. c. 71, t. 194, flg. 2 ; beak of utricle 0. — Kunawur, 

 Moyle. Tibet, alt. 15,000 ft., Strachey l( Winterbottom. 



Var. y gracilenta (sp.), Boott ms.; Strachey, Cat. PI. Kumaon, p. 73; very 

 slender, leaves scarcely Jj in. broad, spikes small. Boeck. I. c. 185 ; Ihtthie I. c. 

 618. C. alpina, ;8 infuscata (partly), Boott Carex, iii. 113, t. 359 ; Boeck. I. c. 394. 

 — Kumaon, alt. 10,000 ft., Strachey ^ Winterbottom (n. 20). Sikkim j Lachen, alt. 

 11-14,000 ft., J. D. if. — Stems 2-16 in. Spikes i by i in., considerably smaller than 

 in the usual Himalayan form (C. infuscata, (sp.) Wight), hut not different from 

 many European examples of 0. alpina. Though Boeckeler keeps this up as a species, 

 B^jott finally accepted Spach's opinion that it is only a form of C. alpina. 



93. C. Ziehmanni, Drejer, Symb. Caricol. 13, t. 2; lowest spike 

 sometimes 1-3 in. distant, lowest bract nsnally much overtopping infl., 

 spikes and utricle smaller than those of G. alpina, otherwise as C. alpina, 

 Sw. Strachey Cat. PI. Kumaon, 73 ; Boott Carex, iii. 113, t. 361 ; Boeck. 

 in Linnrna, xl. 395. 0. infuscata, /3 miorooarpa, Nees in Wight Contrib. 

 125 ; Kunth Enum. ii. 431.— Carex, Wall. Cat. 3381. 



HiMAiAFA, alt. 11-13,500 ft. ; from Kumaon, Strachey Sf Winterbottom, to 

 Sikkim, J. D. 3., frequent. 



Exceedingly near 0. alpina, Sw. Stems sometimes- rather stouter, acutely tri- 

 quetrous, scabrous, but not rarely slender nearly as iu C. alpina. JJtriele scarcely 

 -f^ in., often scabrous on the shoulders, whence spikes often oblong, narrower than 



