552 CYPERACE^. [Carex. 



crowded into an oblong interrupted spike, fruit ovate with a mem- 

 branaceous margin nerved shorter than the acuminate glumes, 

 bracteas membranaceous lower ones somewhat leafy, stem trian- 

 gular, leaves plane."— 5r. Fl. p. 492. E. B. t 928. 



/3. Culm and spikes upriglit, root fibrous. C. Witheringii, Gray .- With.7\\i 

 ed. I. XX. 



On sandy sea-shores ; common. Fl. May, June. 2^. 



E. Bled. — Plentiful on the Dover at Ryde. Abundant in Sandown bay, on the 

 debris of the green sandstone. Bembridge, not far from the signal-gun. 



W. Med. — Abundant in the debris at the foot of the sand-cliffs between Niton 

 and Blackgang, 1847. 



/3. On the Dover. Sandy shores on the N.E. side of the Isle of Wight, With. 

 1. c. 



Root or rather rhizom extremely long, jointed with bristly sheaths, tough and 

 woody, running horizontally under the loose sand to the extent of several feet or 

 even yards, emitting at intervals bundles of yellowish fibres and flowering shoots, 

 and when chewed or bruised a certain weak spicy taste and smell, like camphor 

 and ginger combined. * Culms erect or recurved, 6 — 10 inches (rarely more) in 

 height, their lower portion, which is partly buried in the sand, rounded, naked, 

 and covered with pale reddish or brownish, close and pointed scales; their upper 

 half slender, green, roughish, with 3 blunt angles. Leaves few (3 or 4), springing 

 from nearly the same point, the centre of the culm, and not usually reaching its 

 summit, darkish green, a little glaucous, narrow (Jth of an inch broad), rigid, 

 erect, recurved and withered at the points, concave above, bluntly keeled below. 

 Spikes solitary, terminal, 1 — 12 inches long, of several ovato-lanceolale, erect or 

 somewhat spreading spikelets of a yellowish green colour, the basal ones larger 

 and more distant, the upper ones much smaller and closely crowded. Scales 

 ovato-lanceolate, taper-pointed and mucronate, concave, tawny-yellow, with a 

 broad, green, central stripe. Bracts like the scales, but with longer and rough- 

 edged points, sheathing, the lowermost one ribbed and somewhat leafy, its point 

 shorter than the spike. Anthers pale yellow, with somewhat bristly awns. Fruit 

 sessile, as long as the scales, ovato-acuminate, the point finely cloven, compressed, 

 furrowed and convex on the back, quite flat on its inner face, the edges expanded 

 into a broad, green, membranous wing or border, roughish on the margin. Seed 

 ovate, flattened, not at all triquetrous, crowned with the permanent styles. 



This is not essentially a sea-side plant: T have observed it very plentifully in 

 the loose sandy soil near Maidenhall, in Suffolk, where the rare Sedum glaucum 

 also grows; and it occurs in very inland countries on the Continent. 



"ft Root fihrous."— Bah. Man. 



6. C. vulpina, L. Great '\Coinpouncl Prickly Sedge. " Spike- 

 lets compound collected into a cylindrical crowded spike, fruit 

 ovato-acuminate plano-convex nerved longer than the glumes 

 divergent, beak finely serrate bifid, stem very acutely triangular, 

 the angles scabrous, leaves broad." — Br. Fl. p. 491. F. B. t. 307. 

 Host. Gram. Aust. i. 43, t. 56. C. nemorosa, Willd. 



In boggy marshes, and in wet woods and hedges; extremely common. Fl. 

 May, June. i^r. June, July. 2/.. 



Stems erect, often 4 or 5 feet long, and reclining amongst herbage, acutely tri- 

 quetrous, almost winged. Leaves sharply keeled, and as well as the stem rough 

 with minute prickles. Spikes oblong, cylindrical, dense, about 2 inches in length, 



* Schkuhr says the roots of C. arenaria are sold in the shops under the name 

 of German Sarsaparilla, and are equally esteemed for the same virtues as the 

 genuine article from America. 



