32 



l lif In^li S aliii'alisl. 



March, 



The chief differences between the two species are as 

 follows \- — 



C. CONTIGUA. 

 Taller, more robust, with stouter, 



greener stem. 

 Fruit also greener and more like 



that of divulsa. 

 Fruit long and ta)'ering gradually 



into a long beak. 

 ],igule much larger 



C. PA IRA EI. 

 More slender, with darker, more 



wiry stem. ♦ 

 r^ruit brown and more like that of 



tereHusciila. 

 Fruit shorter and contracting much 



more suddenly into a short beak. 

 Ligule shorter and smaller. 



In both species the spikelets are contiguous, but there is 

 a tendency for the lowermost spikelet to be separated from 

 those above, as in many other sedges. 



On the sun-baked western side of the ditch at Sandyford 

 the fruiting stems of Pairaei were only some 4 to 6 inches 

 long, but on the eastern, more shaded side they attained 

 nearly 2 feet, or, in other words, were nearly as long as those 

 of contigua grown in my garden. The figure of " muricata " 

 given in " Bentham and Hooker " appears to delineate 

 Pairaei, although the enlarged sketch of the fruit agrees with 

 my contigua. In Pairaei the fruiting spike is usually (but 

 not always) subtended by a short bract, as shown in the 

 figure just mentioned. The plant of contigua in my garden 

 has never a bract beneath the spike. 



The exact locality for Pairaei at Sandyford is on the 

 eastern side of the old road, half a mile south of that place, 

 just south of where this road crosses that from St. Columba's 

 to Leopardstown, and on the summit of a slight eminence. 

 It is not clear whether this is Dr. Moore's station given in 

 Cyhele Hibernica, viz., " Near Stepaside, on the way to 

 Holly Park " (now St. Columba's College). 



To judge by specimens in the National Herbarium, 

 Pairaei is quite as common, if not more prevalent, in central 

 and southern Ireland than contigua, but fresh material is 

 necessary before the distribution of the two species can be 

 worked out. For assistance in compihng this note my 

 thanks are due to those mentioned above, as well as to Miss 

 ]\L C. Knowles. 



Dubhn. 



