A494. THE SEDGE FAMILY, { Carex. 
ing; the scaly runners ending in tufts of leaves. Stems usually shortly 
decumbent at the base, 8 inches to a foot high or rather more, and leafy. 
Spikelets about 3 or 4, distant from each other; the terminal one or two 
cylindrical and small; the lower 3, 2, or 1 female, ovoid, of a dark brown, 
about 6 or 8 lines long; the lowest on a slender stalk, with a leafy bract 
at its base. Style 2-cleft. Fruit ovoid, inflated, longer than the glume, 
with a very short point or beak. 3 
Limited to the Arctic and high northern regions of Europe. In Britain, 
only in the higher Scotch mountains. Fl. summer. [This includes C. 
Grahami, Boott, and pulia, Gooden., and is regarded by many authors as 
a variety of C. vesicaria. | 
19, ©. ceespitosa, Linn. (fig. 1126). Tufted Carex.—A very variable 
species, but (with the following C. acuta) readily known among all the 
British species with distinct male and female spikelets, by the 2-cleft 
styles and almost flat fruits. The rootstock has creeping runners, but the 
stems are often densely tufted, enclosed at the base by the brown sheaths 
of the leaves, the outer ones often without blades and worn into ragged 
fibres. In dry soils the stems are scarcely 6 inches high, and the leaves 
still shorter; in rich swamps the stems attain 4 feet, with the leaves 
almost as long. Spikelets 3 to 6, each from 3 to 14 inches long, the 
terminal oné and the upper portion or the whole of the next male, the 
remainder female; the lowest usually shortly stalked, and 1 or 2 of the 
outer bracts leafy. Glumes dark brown or black, often with a green 
midrib. 
In pastures, meadows, and marshes. Common in Europe and Russian 
Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic regions, and in North America. 
Fl. spring and summer. The principal forms occurring in Britain, often 
considered as species, are :— 
a. C. rigida, Good. A dwarf alpine form, scarcely 6 inches high, with 
short, flat, and rigid leaves. In exposed situations, at great elevations, or 
at high northern latitudes. 
b. OC. cespitosa, Sm. (vulgaris, Fries., Goodenovii, Gay). Usually 1 to3 
feet high, loosely tufted, with narrow leaves, including many intermediate 
forms passing gradually into the preceding and following varieties. Abun- 
dant throughout Britain. 
c. C. stricta, Good. Usually about 2 feet high, more glaucous and 
tutted than the last variety, with narrow leaves, rather long spikelets, the 
fruits more distinctly arranged in 8 or 9 rows, and their nerves more 
strongly marked. Equally common with the last variety, but usually in 
more open situations. : 
d. C. aquatilis, Wahl. A very tall, leafy form, with slender spikelets, 
approaching C. acuta. In bogs and marshes in Scotland, rare. | 
(e. C. trinervis, Degl. A short, stout plant, with narrow rigid leaves, 
the margins of which are involute. Confined to the shores of N.W. Europe, 
and recently found in wet, sandy places on the Norfolk coast. ] 
20. ©. acuta, Linn. (fig. 1127). Acute Carex.—This may again be a 
mere luxuriant variety of C. cespitosa. It attains 2 or 3 feet, with long, 
flaccid leaves, and leafy bracts ; the female spikelets are often 3 inches long 
or more; the glumes all narrow and acute, and the fruits themselves ~ 
narrower than in most varieties of C. eespitosa. 
In wet meadows, and marshes, generally distributed over the area of 
cuties 
