Carex.] LXXXVIII. CYPEKACEiE. 501 



rather large sheath. Glumes very scarious on the edge. Styles 3-cleft. 

 Fruits 10 to 12 in each spikelet, tapering into a pointed beak. 



In alpine meadows, and on moist rocks, in northern and Arctic Europe 

 and Asia, in the high ranges of central and southern Europe, North 

 Asia, and North America. On the mountains of the north of England 

 and Scotland, but rare and local ; not in Ireland. FL summer, 



39. C. limosa, Linn. (fig. 1149). Mud C. — Kootstock creeping. Stem 

 slender, from 3 inches to a foot high, with narrow leaves, sometimes as 

 long as the stem, sometimes much snorter. Terminal male spikelet \ 

 to near 1 inch long. Females 1 or 2, on slender stalks, drooping, rather 

 loose, 6 to 8 lines long. Bracts leafy, without sheaths, or with a short, 

 scarious one. Glumes rather dark-brown, ovate, the upper ones pointed. 

 Styles 3-cleft. Fruits rather large, roundish, compressed, scarcely 

 pointed, and not distinctly beaked. C. irrigua, Hoppe. 



In bogs and mountain marshes, in northern and Arctic Europe, North 

 Asia, and North America, and in the higher ranges of Central Europe. 

 Local in Britain, chiefly in the north, but extending to Dorset and 

 Hants. Fl. summer. The 0. rarifiora, Sm., is a high northern or Arctic 

 variety, with the glumes almost black, and more obtuse, and only 5 or 6 

 fruits in each spikelet. It occurs, but rarely, in the highest Scotch 

 mountains. [It is generally admitted to be a very distinct species.] 



40. C. glauca, Murr. (fig. 1150). Glaucous 0. — The creeping rootstock, 

 glaucous foliage, and most of the characters, are those of 0. panicea, 

 but there are generally 2 or 3 male spikelets, the female ones are rather 

 more compact, on longer stalks, and more or less drooping when ripe, 

 and the sheaths of the leafy bracts are usually shorter. Stems, in 

 dry situations, 6 or 8 inches high, with short, curved leaves ; in rich 

 meadows, 1 to 1J feet, with erect leaves as long as the stems. Female 

 spikelets 2 or 3, varying from \ to above 1 inch in length. Glumes 

 dark-brown. Styles 3-cleft. Fruit ovoid, not ribbed except the 3 

 obtuse angles, and without any beak. 



In meadows and marshes, in Europe, extending eastward into tem- 

 perate Asia, and northward far into Scandinavia. Abundant in Britain 

 generally, although in the north less so than C. panicea. Fl. early 

 summer. 



41. C. sylvatica, Huds. (fig. 1151). Wood C. — Stems weak, tufted, 

 leafy, 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves and leaf y 'bracts flaccid, the latter with long 

 sheaths. Terminal spikelet male, about an inch long. Lower spikelets 

 2 to 4 or rarely more, all female, or occasionally 1 or 2 of the upper ones 

 partially or even wholly male, the females distant, cylindrical, loose- 

 flowered, about an inch or rather longer; on slender stalks, and at 

 length more or less drooping. Glumes green, narrow, and very pointed. 

 Styles 3-cleft. Fruit glabrous, ribbed, tapering, into a long beak. 



In woods, common in Europe and Eussian Asia, except the extreme 

 north, although in the south it is rather a mountain plant. Frequent 

 in Britain, except the north of Scotland. FL early summer. 



42. C. strigosa, Huds. (fig. 1152). Thin-spiked C— Very near C. 

 sylvatica, but the female spikelets are much longer, and more slender, 

 usually above 2 inches long, the flowers at some distance from each 

 other, the peduncles much shorter, almost concealed in the long sheaths 

 of the bracts. Glumes green and lanceolate. Fruits tapering to a point, 

 but not into a long beak as in C. sylvatica. 



