426 
CTPERACE^. 
\_Rhynchospora . 
feet long. Spikelets £ in. long, a few together in a lax head, the heads 
arranged in an ample panicle with distant corymbose divisions. 
Glumes pale brown, the inner lanceolate, acute. Bristles longer than 
the achene. Achene globose, brown, with a hard narrow-conical beak 
longer than itself. Scirpus corymbosus, Linn. Sp. Plant, i. 76. 
Schoenus surinamensis. JRottb. JDescr. 68, t. 21, jig. 1. 
Mauritius, in swamps at the source of the Moka river at the base of Pieter- 
Both, etc. Spread through the tropics of both hemispheres. 
16. SCLERIA, Linn. 
Spikelets monoicous, male and female mixed in the same clus- 
ter. Glumes multifarious, one flower-bearing in the female spikelet 
in our plant, and two or three in the male. Hypogynous bristles 0. 
Stamens 3.* Style trifid. Achene glossy, globose, seated on a distinct 
disk. — Perennials, with leafy stems, the inflorescence variously ar- 
ranged. Distrib. Warmer zones of both hemispheres. Species 50 
or more. 
1. S. Sieberi, Nees ; Kunth , Enum. ii. 345. Stems sharply trique- 
trous, 3-6 feet long, copiously leafy. Leaves reedy, a foot or more 
long, | in. broad, with three strong ribs. Inflorescence an ample 
terminal rhomboid panicle and smaller ones peduncled from the axils 
of large leaves for some distance down the stem. Male spikelets copious, 
oblong, £ in. long, the glumes pale brown, the inner ones lanceolate. 
Female spikelets sessile in the axils of the branchlets, with only small 
deltoid glumes, from which the achene protrudes. Achene glossy, 
ovoid, -jL in. long, minutely cuspidate, usually white, sometimes brown, 
girt at the base by the lacerated scales of the narrow disk. S. race- 
mosa, Bojer , Sort. Maur . 385, not Poir. 
Mauritius and Seychelles, common in mountain hogs. Endemic. 
17. CAREX, Linn. 
Flowers all unisexual, usually monoicous, arranged in many- 
flowered spikelets. Glumes multifarious. Hypogynous bristles 0. 
Stamens usually 3. Achene triquetrous or lenticular, enclosed in a 
sac (perigyne) with abidentate beak, from which the 2-3 stigmas are 
protruded. — Perennial herbs, with triquetrous leafy stems, the spikes 
remote or aggregated in bisexual heads. Distrib. Mainly in the 
Arctic-alpine and temperate zones. Species about 1000. The second 
or third largest of known genera. 
Spikelets many, sessile, forming lax panicles. 
Side spikelets erecto-patent 1. C. Wahlenbergiana. 
Side spikelets spreading 2. C. ramosa. 
Spikelets few, long, cylindrical. 
Spikelets small, with stiffly erect peduncles. Stigmas 2, 3. C. brunnea. 
Spikelets larger, cemuous. Stigmas 3. 
Spikelets few, towards the top of the stem . . 4. C. borbonica. 
Spikelets many, laxly disposed 5. C. Boryana. 
