670 cYPERACEiE. [Carcx. 



and looser sheaths. Bracteas long, leafy. Slaminate spike solitary, 1^ inch or 2 

 inches long, terminal, erect, linear, acute ; its scales ovato-lanceolate, acuminate, 

 pale green, with a central rib and edged with silvery white, their margins folded 

 so as to make them appear narrower than they really are: under a very moderate 

 magnifier these scales appear to have three ribs, but this is solely owing to the 

 deepening of the green colour adjacent to the white membranous border, as a lens 

 of higher power discovers no such structure. Pistillate spikes about 5, erect or 

 inclining, 2\ inches long, slender, often bearing staminate florets at their extre- 

 mity, and sometimes a little compound at the base ; on slender pedicels, but little 

 if at all exceeding the top of the somewhat loose sheath, whose bifm-cation is filled 

 up by a thin 2-lobed prolongation of the ligule, much mere conspicuously than in 

 C. sylvatica. Florets loosely imbricated ; their scales like those of the staminate 

 spikes, but shorter and greener. Stigmas 3. Perigyne very difi'erent from that 

 of C. sylvatica, ovato-lanceolate, triquetrous, with one or two strong ribs down its 

 two outer faces, tapering into an abrupt nearly entire point. 



29. C. 2}^ndula, Huds. Great Pendulous Sedge. "Barren 

 spikelets solitary, fertile 4 — 6 cylindrical densely flowered very 

 long and drooping, slieaths nearly equal to the stalks, lower elon- 

 gated, upper very short, glumes ovato-mucronate, fruit ovate with 

 a short trigonous notched beak, leaves broad." — Br. Fl. p. 502. 

 E. B. t. 2315. Host. Gram. Aust. i. 78, t. 100 (optima). 



In moist woods, and on wet slipped land along the coast; not rare. Fl. April 

 — June. Fr. July, August. !{.. 



E. Med. — In the ravine along the stream below the garden of the Shanklin 

 (Williams's) hotel, and in the same gully near the church, 1844. Common in 

 Shanklin chine. Woods between Shanklin and Ventnor. Woods near Norris 

 castle, and especially in Buckelt's copse, in the greatest profusion. Hungerberry 

 copse, frequent, 1849. Profusely in the boggy parts of the copse at the mouth of 

 the Wontton river on the W. shore, 1845. Wood on the West side of the river 

 below Wootton bridge, sparingly, 1845. In Marina copse, by the sea-shore near 

 St. Clave, in plenty, 1850, Dr. Bell- Salter . 



W.Med. — Abundantly in copses between Gurnet and Thorness bays, 1846. 

 Frequent along the shore near W. Cowes, towards Gurnet bay. By Sheat farm, 

 in great profusion. 



By far the largest, and one of the handsomest, of British Sedges, conspicuous 

 for its long-stalked and elegantly drooping spikes. From 2 — 6 feet high. Root 

 fibrous, tufted, {8m.) Culms erect, slender for the size of the plant, triquetrous, 

 the angles sharpish, intermediate faces channelled, smooth excepting between the 

 two or three uppermost sheaths, where it is slightly scabrous. Leaves ofien 2 feet 

 long, fths of an inch or more broad, bright grass-green above, pale and glaucous 

 beneath, their deflexed edges rough towards the point, as is the very sharp and 

 prominent keel, and terminating in long, close, sheathing bases. Ligule ovate, 

 of the upper leaves ovato-lanceolate, soldered to the leaf throughout, their edges 

 alone free. Sheaths very long, fitting loosely round ihe culm, their leafy bracteas 

 in all respects like the leaves themselves. Spikes very long, slender and obtuse, 

 on stalks about the length of the sheaths, those of the lowermost a little longer, 

 drooping or pendulous, Staminate spike solitary, 3 — 6 inches long, thickening 

 gradually towards its extremity, triquetrous ; its scales linear-lanceolate, acute, 

 thin and membranous, reddish brown with a pale dorsal rib. Anthers yellow. 

 Pistillate spikes 6 or 7, cylindrical, 5 or 6 inches long; their scales like those of 

 the staminate spike, but with darker edges when in fruit, appearing much broader 

 from their expansion. Florets of both very numerous, densely imbricated. Peri- 

 gyne sessile, spreading, ovate, very bluntly and obscurely triangular, a little 

 inflated, ribbed and greenish towards the point, suddenly tapering into a short, 

 abrupt, brownish aud entire beak, easily detached from the rachis, when ripe, by 

 a slight rub. 



The original name, given to this species by Ehrhart, of C. Drymeia, although 



