CYPERACE^. 



903 



ragged sheaths, one or two of which bear 

 linear, almost subulate leaves, shorter 

 than the stem, and one or two of the 

 upper sheaths inflated, without any or 

 only a very short blade. Spikelet so- 

 litary, terminal, ovoid, 6 to 8 lines long, 

 of a deep olive-green. Hypogynous 

 bristles very numerous 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, Russian Asia, and 

 North America, and in the mountains of 

 southern Europe. Extends all over 

 Britain, but especially abundant in the 

 mountains of Scotland and Ireland. Fl. 



Fte. 1090. 



3. Common Cottonsedge. Eriophorum polystachyum, 



Linn. (Eig. 1091.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 563. E. angustifolium, t. 564, F. graoile, t. 2102, 

 F. pubescens, t. 2633, and F. gracile, Supp'l. t. 2886.) 

 Rootstock creeping. Leaves few, 

 mostly radical, much shorter than the 

 stem, more or less triangular, or chan- 

 nelled at the top or all the way along, 

 those on the stem often very short. 

 Stems about a foot high, with a termi- 

 nal umbel of 2 or 3 to 8 or 10 or even 

 more spikelets ; the inner ones sessile, 

 the outer ones more or less stalked and 

 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 at- 

 taining 1 to 1\ inches in length. 



In bogs and wet moors, the commonest 

 species in Europe, Russian Asia, and 

 North America. Erequent in Britain. 

 Fl. summer. It is usually divided into 



Fig. 1091. 



