492 T. Holm — Studies in the Cyperacece. 



Ontario, in Monroe County, New York, collected by Dr. 

 Bradley. A more complete diagnosis was given by Dewey in 

 1865," which reads as follows : 



" Spicis 3-5, longo-cylindraceis incluse pednnculatis longe- 

 folioso-bracteatis ; spicis staminiferis, 1-3 ssepe 2, approximatis 

 interdum ad basin vel erga apicem pauco fructiferis cum 

 glumis longis arctis attenuatis scabro-subulatis ; spicis fist. 1-2, 

 laxifloris suberectis subremotis ad apicem vulgo staminifera : 

 fructibus parvi-ovatis longo-conicis vel lanceolatis vix inflatis 

 nervosis vel striatis longo-stipitatis divergentibus rostratis, 

 rostro profundi-fisso bicuspidato interdum bifurcato vel biden- 

 tato ; glumis fructiferis lineari-lanceolatis scabro-subulatis, 

 fructu superno spicse brevioribus, fructum inferiorem sequan- 

 tibus, atque fructus infimos plus duplo superantibus : culmo 

 superne scabro, inferne obtusi-triquetri et lsevi ; foliis bracte- 

 isque nodosis et margine scabris." 



It is to be regretted that Professor Bailey has not described 

 his C. exsiccata in any other way than, as stated above, by 

 merely alluding to the distinctive characters when compared 

 with C. vesicaria L., and this is not a diagnosis. However, 

 the writer has had the opportunity of examining several speci- 

 mens identified by Professor Bailey himself as representing 

 C. exsiccata, and these specimens not only answer the diag- 

 nosis of C. mirata Dew. in most respects, but they agree, 

 furthermore, with some authentic specimens from Dewey's own 

 collection. When we use the expression " in most respects," 

 we wish to say that there are some points in Dewey's diagnosis 

 which we have not been able to observe in the specimens. 

 This is for instance the case with u fructibus longo-stipitatis," 

 for in the material at our disposal the perigynia were almost 

 sessile ; moreover the pistillate spikes were not always u laxi- 

 floris" But the most important characters derived from the 

 structure of the perigynium "longo-conicis vel lanceolatis vix 

 inflatis nervosis vel striatis" these were readily observed in the 

 so-called C. exsiccata. Car ex mirata belongs to a group of 

 species, Physocarpm Drej., in which a notable variation occurs 

 in regard to the number, position, and length of the spikes, the 

 staminate as well as the pistillate ; also in regard to the struc- 

 ture of squama even in the same spike, not speaking of the 

 orifice of the perigynium which, as Dewey has remarked him- 

 self, may vary from deeply cleft to merely bidentate. For 

 this reason C. mirata Dew. may not be recognized without 

 some difficulty, while, on the other hand, it would be utterly 

 impossible to distinguish C. exsiccata Bail, except by means 

 of specimens, since no diagnosis has been published. 



Brookland, D. C., May, 1908. 



* This Journal (2), xxxix, p. 39, 1865. 



