422 T. Holm — Studies in the Cyperacece. 



Art. XL. — Studies in the Cyperacece • by Theo. Holm. 

 XXV. Notes on Car ex. (With 13 figures drawn from 

 nature by the author.) 



Carex capitata L. 



It seems very difficult to place this species in a natural way 

 among the other Carices, even if it must be considered as a 

 true Vignea. The small roundish, androgynous spike with the 

 greenish, wingless, membranous perigynia spreading at maturity, 

 and the straight beak with hyaline orifice are characters that 

 are seldom met with among the other Vignece. And although 

 it naturally stands as a "forma hebetata" we have failed to 

 detect any analogies in structure by which it might be asso- 

 ciated, with some of the more evolute types. For this reason 

 the writer has preferred to place it in a grex of its own : 

 Microcephalce* thus preceding the Cephalostachyce ( C.foetida 

 cet.J and the Sphcerostachym ( C. incurva). 



The geographical distribution of the species is extremely wide, 

 extending throughout the northern hemisphere. We find it in 

 Alaska and Yukon, in the Rocky Mountains (Wyoming, in 

 the White Mountains (New Hampshire), in the Hudson Bay 

 Region, on the coasts of Greenland, in Iceland, Scandinavia; 

 Tyrol, arctic Russia and. in the mountains of Bajkal and Davu- 

 ria ; it occurs, moreover, in South America and has been col- 

 lected in Argentina and in Tierra del Fuego. And in spite of 

 this enormous distribution the species does not show any ten-' 

 dency to vary, but remains constantly the same. Variation 

 among the "format hebetated is, as we remember, not very 

 pronounced, especially not among the Vignece, but there are 

 some species, nevertheless, which do vary in certain regions, 

 for instance : C. nardina and C. gynocrates. Among the 

 Carices gemdnce variation has been noticed in C. Geyeri, C. 

 nigricans, C lejocarpa, C. scirpoidea, etc. 



In regard to the external characters C. capitata is well 

 known, but it does not seem as if the internal structure has 

 been studied so far. A comparative study of the "formm 

 hebetatce " might give some interesting results inasmuch as they 

 are looked upon as representing, at least to some extent, the 

 habit of ancestral types of the genus. Being in possession of 

 a very rich material of this species, the writer has examined 

 the anatomy of specimens from very remote localities, and 

 does not hesitate to present the results as a contribution to the 

 knowledge of these "formce hebetatceP 



* " Greges Caricum." (This Journal, vol. xvi, p. 456, 1903.) 



