Carex.] clxxii. ctperaoe^. (C. B. Clarke.) 733 



Boon Care" t 108 in' 0^^' J^'^'^ ^" ^"' °- ^'J/^^^M^a. Subsequently 

 Sect. r. PROPEI* Terminal spile wholly male. (In O. ustulata and C 



• Utricle glabrous (or scabrous on margins) j beak or very short. 



7 p/ ^" ?*!^??l*"*^*' ?• /• ^^'y"'- ''^ ^-'^deb. Ft. Alt. iv. 216 and 

 iclfi.-^. »,t.rfi7; spikes 3-6 approximate snbsessile (lowest peduncle 

 rarelyi in.) dense, glumes blaok-red triangular-tipped, style 3-fid, utricles 

 obovoid-elhpaoid nerveless granular usually dark-red upwards, beak hardly 

 any Kunth ^num xx 432; Boott Owrex, iv. 211; Twrcz. M. Baikal. 

 Mur. 11. (pars 1) 269 a only ; Boeck. in Linnma, x\. 399. 0. nigra, var. 

 ^Trevir. ^nLedeb. Fl. Bass. iv. 288. 0. nigra, var. orientalis, Read Bescr. 

 PI. fasc. viu. 28. 0. atrata Boott ms. (jpwrtly). 0. Moorcroftii, var. 

 Boott ms. (J. nivalis, Boech. ms. (partly). 



EASHMiEj alt. 9-12,000 ft., T&omson, &c., C. JB. OZrfe.-DlSTElB. Central 

 Asia, Cabul. 



Stoloniferous. Stems 6-24 in. Learns numerous, often nearly as long as the 

 stem, i in. broad; lower sheaths very pale brown. Infl. usually 1-2 in., lonler than 

 lowest bract. Spikes 4 by i in. Glumes nearly uniform "black red or with a 

 narrow pale keel. Utncle shorter than glume, slightly scabrous on shoulders, 

 trigonous, slightly winged ; exsert part of stigmas rather shorter than utricle —The 

 original description of this species states the terminal spike to be male at base fern 

 at top, as in the type specimens, but in hardly any others ; the Indian examples have 

 the terminal spike male, and Turczaninow and Regel say this is so very generally 

 in the Central Asian plant. Boeckeler and Boissier say that 0. nigra mainly differs 

 by not being stoloniferous j but C. nigra is plentifully stoloniferous. Treviranus 

 therefore unites C. melanantha with C. nigra ; it has the same general aspect, but 

 C. nigra has a totally different much-compressed utricle. G. parviflora C A 

 Meyer (Ennm. PI. Cane. p. 30) which includes 0. sabulosa, Turcz. and C. melano. 

 cephala, Turcz., is also exceedingly like 0. melanantha in general aspect; it is 

 common in Central Asia, and very likely to occur in British India, and to have been 

 overlooked. It differs from C. melanantha in having the utricle more acuminated 

 into a short (but much more definite) linear beak. 



100. C. moorcroftii, Falconer ms. ex Boott in Proc. Linn. Soc. xx. 

 (1851), 140, and Carex. i. 9, t. 27; spikes larger brighter than in C. 

 melanantha, glumes black-red or paler, terminal spike often pale, utricle 

 larger pale upwards, otherwise as C. melanantha. Strachey Gat. PL 

 Kumaon, 73 ; Boerk. in lAnnsea, xli. 179. 0. melanantha, /3'baicalensis, 

 Turce. Fl. Baihal Dahur. i. 270. C. melanantha, var. Boott ms. 



HiMAEAYA and Tibet, alt. 12-16,000 ft., from the Kakakoeum to Tibet (N. of 

 Sikkim), alt. 16-17,000 ft., J. D. U. and Phari, iSTwy.— Disteib. Central Asia. 



Appears like a fine bright-colrd. form of G. melanantha as the Russian botanists 

 (and apparently Boott at last) esteemed it The fruiting spikes look very difierent 

 as pale-yellow utricles alternate with dark-chestnut glumes ; whereas in 0. melan- 

 antha, the dull black-red tops of utricles are concolorous with glumes. G. Moor- 

 eroftii is sometimes nearly 2 ft. high, with spikes i in. in diam. 



101. C. supina; Walil. in Handl. Vet. Acad. Stochh. 158; small, 

 rhizome slender creeping, spikes approximate sessile small, one terminal 



