ja ol 
Ervophorum. | LXXXVIII. CYPERACE&. 487 
to each flower, forming at length very dense cottony tufts, nearly 
globular, about an inch in diameter. | 
In bogs and wet moors, in northern and central Europe, northern 
Asia, and North America, and in the mountains of southern Europe. 
Extends all over Britain. Vl. summer. 
& 3. E. polystachion, Linn. (fig. 1109). Common C.—Rootstock 
creeping. Leaves few, mostly radical, much shorter than the stem, 
more or less triangular, or channelled at the top or all the way along, 
those on the stem often very short. Stems about a foot high, witha 
terminal umbel of 2 or 8 to 8 or 10 or even more spikelets; the inner 
ones sessile, the outer ones more or less stalked atid often drooping ; 
the 1 to 3 outer bracts more or less leafy. Each spikelet ovoid or 
oblong, 5 or 6 lines long; the glumes thin, of an olive-green, with 
scarious edges, or sometimes altogether brown. Hypogynous bristles 
very numerous, forming dense cottony tufts, often attaining 1 to 14 
inches in length. 
In bogs and wet moors, the commonest species in Europe, Russian 
Asia, and North America. Frequent in Britain. Fl. swumer. It is 
usually divided into 3 species, ZL. latifolium, Hoppe, with leaves flattened 
the greater part of their length; FZ. gracile, Koch., with very slender 
_ leaves, and few, almost erect spikelets; and /. angustsfoliwm, Roth., 
with intermediate leaves and more numerous spikelets. Other char- 
acters, derived from the smoothness or roughness of the peduncles, or 
from the length of the cottony bristles, do not appear to be near so 
constant as has been supposed. [The usual limitation of these forms 
is as follows: L. polystachion proper. Rootstock long, stems not tufted, 
solid, leaves channelled, glumes ovate, nut mucronate. #. latifolium, 
Hoppe. Rootstock short, stems tufted, slender, 3-gonous, hollow, 
leaves flat, glumes lanceolate, nut mucronate. F#. gracile, Koch. Stem 
very slender 3-gonous, leaves short, very narrow 3-gonous, glumes 
broad obtuse, nut very narrow obtuse. Very rare; and found only on 
the banks of the Blackwater river in Surrey. ] 
VIII. KOBRESIA. KOBRESIA. 
Perennial herbs, with grass-like leaves, radical or sheathing the stems 
at the base. Spikelets sessile in a terminal spike, simple or rarely 
branched at the base, with a glume-like bract under each spikelet. In 
each spikelet the lowest glume encloses an ovary with a long trifid 
style, the next one or rarely two glumes enclose 3 stamens, and there 
is often a small rudimentary glume or awn terminating the axis. Some 
spikelets have only one glume enclosing an ovary, and some, near the 
end of the spike, have only one glume with 3 stamens. 
Besides the British species the genus comprises one or two from the 
continent of Europe. 
1. K. caricina, Willd. (fig. 1110). Kobresia.—A low, carex-like 
plant, forming dense tufts seldom above 6 inches high; the leaves 
radical or sheathing the stems at the base, spreading, and much 
shorter than the stem. Spikelets 4 or 5, short and brown, closely 
sessile in a short terminal spike. In each spikelet the lower flowers 
are female, consisting within the glume of an ovary with a 3-cleft 
style. The upper terminal spikelets of the spike, and usually one 
