920 



THE SEDGE FAMILY. 



19. Tufted Carex. Carex csespitosa, Linn. (Fig. 1111.) 



(Eng. Bot. t, 1507. C. vulgaris, Brit. Fl.) 



A very variable species, but (with the 

 following, acute C.) readily known among 

 all the British species with distinct male 

 and female spikelets, by the 2-cleft 

 styles and almost flat fruits. The root- 

 stock 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. Spike- 

 lets 3 to 6, each from \ to 1\ inches long; 

 the terminal one 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 Rus- 

 sian 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. Rigid tufted C. (C. rigida, Eng. Bot. t. 2047.) A dwarf alpine 

 form, scarcely 6 inches high, with short, flat, and rigid leaves. In ex- 

 posed situations, at great elevations, or at high northern latitudes. 



b. Common tufted C. Usually 1 to 3 feet high, loosely tufted, with 

 narrow leaves, including many intermediate forms passing gradually 

 into the preceding and following varieties. 



c. Densely -tufted C. (C. stricta, Eng. Bot. t. 914.) Usually about 

 2 feet high, more glaucous and tufted than the last variety, with nar- 

 row 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. Water tufted C. (C. aquatilis, Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2758.) A very 

 tall, leafy form, with slender spikelets, approaching the acute C. In 

 very wet, rich situations ; not common in Britain, but said to occur in 

 the Scotch Highlands. 



Fig. 1111. 





