CARE X. Sor 
riance or barrennefs of the foil, the fheatliwill be affecled able fand on the fea-fhore : from each joint a fiem, below 
f'omewhat in the fame proportion. When Linnaeus def- 
cribes the peduncles as feflile, we are to underftand that 
they have that appearance ; the peduncles, if there are 
any, being covered by the fheath. The cariccs, or hedges, 
are clafled rather among the noxious plants, than with 
Inch as areufeful; becanfe they yield a very coarfe grars 
and fodder, to the exclnfion of real.grafs, and other profit¬ 
able plants, which they fubdue by their lirong creeping 
roots : but it fiiould be confidered that they grow chiefly 
on poor fpongy land, on bogs, to which they give (lability, 
or on the banks of dreams, which they enable to refill the 
current; that they may be deflfoyed by draining and ma¬ 
nuring; and that after all they are not without their ufe. 
Betides the common ufe of them for Coarfe fodder, they 
are employed for covering hovels and flacks, for light¬ 
ing fires and heating ovens, for tying the young hop- 
plants to the poles; in Italy, for covering wine-flafks, 
for putting between the daves of cafks,to make them tight, 
and for chair bottoms. The Laplander combs and dredes 
fome fpecies of fedge, as-we do flax, and in winter fluffs 
his (hoes and gloves with it, as a defence againd the ex¬ 
treme rigour of his climate. 
Species. I. With one Ample fpike. r. Carex dioica, 
or fmall-fedge : fpike Ample, dioecous ; margins of the 
eapfiiles ferrulate. Culm (lender, upright, fmooth, from 
four to fix, or even ten, inches high, with three fharpifh 
angles. Dr. Goodenough adds, that the root is creeping ; 
that the male or barren fpike has a fhort ovate brown 
brafte, ending in a point; and that the feales are oblong, 
fharpifh, and fulvous, with an obfeure green dorfal nerve : 
and that the fertile or female fpike has the feales as in the 
male, fhorter than the capfules, which are fpreading, 
ovate, acute. There are two (ligmas in this fpecies. The 
male plant has fometimes a female flower or two at the 
bafe of the fpike, and the female planfhas fometimes fe- 
veral.male flowers at tire top of the fpike. Found on 
boggy grounds, flowering in June. 
2. Carex capitata, or round-headed fedge : fpike Ample, 
androgynous, ovate, upper part male ; capfules imbricate, 
expanding, with entire margins. The plants hitherto 
difeovered in Great- Britain have probably been only fertile 
individuals of carex dioica. 
3. Carex pulicaris, flea-fedge, or flea-grafs: fpike Am¬ 
ple, androgynous; upper part male; capfules divaricated, 
bent back, acuminate at both ends. Root not creeping, 
but fibrous; culm upright, roundifh, fmooth, naked, from 
three to twelve inches high; leaves briftle-fhaped, bright 
green, in tufts, rigid, fmooth, upright, fhorter titan the 
culm, channelled, fomevvhat convex on one fide, nerved, 
and angular. This fpecies is well deferibed by Lightfoot 
and Leers ; the figure in Mornfon is extremely charafter- 
ifiic; Leers gives the plant both in a young and mature 
Hate ; Micheli’s figures are in general to be defended on. 
Frequent in moorilh and boggy places. It was fir ft ob- 
ferved by Mr. Goodyer. 
4. Carex fquarrofa: fpike Ample, androgynous; lower 
part male; capfules imbricated, horizontal. This is one 
of the 'argeft fpecies, and is a native of Canada. 
5. CarCx uncinata: fpike fimple, androgynous, linear, 
upper part male ; awns of the female's uncinated ; males 
awnlefs. Fertile flowers conflituting two-thirds of the 
fpike, below the barren ones. Small fpicules fometimes 
hang down by the fide, probably barren. The handfom- 
eft of the genus, and a native of New Zealand. 
6. Carex cypcroides : head terminal roundifh ; flowers 
very fimple, Tubulated; involucre long. Culms a foot high, 
three-cornered. Native of Siberia and Bohemia. 
II. Spikes androgynous. 7. Carex baldenfis: fpikes 
tern, heaped, feffile, ovate, three-cornered, androgynous; 
involucre two-leaved. Native of Monte Baldo. 
8. Carex arenaria, fand or fea-fedge : fpike leafy ob¬ 
long, fliarpiih ; fpikelets feveral, the terminating ones 
male, the lower ones female ; culm incurved. Root creep¬ 
ing horizontally about four inches under-ground, in mover 
Vol. III. No. 163. 
the Airfare covered with brown (heaths, fending out many 
leaves, the outer ones fhort, the inner narrow, and as tail 
as tire culm, which is naked, without knots, fupporting a 
rufl-coToured fpike, generally nodding. Found in loofe 
fand on the fea-fhore; as at Yarmouth, Lowefloff, £cc. 
and in Scotland frequent; in the inland parts of German)', 
in the fame foil: if feldom flowers in a garden. 
9. Carex uliginofa fpike compound ; fpikelets andro¬ 
gynous, the lower ones more remote, furnifhed with a 
longer leaflet; culm round. This has neat ly the fame 
appearance with the foregoing, but the root is not rnani- 
fefilv creeping. Found on the turf moors in Sweden. 
10. Carex leporina : fpike compound ; fpikelets ovate, 
feflile, approximate, alternate, androgynous, naked. The 
fpike is formed of five or fix approximating fpikelets, 
with grey chaffs, longer than the feeds, between the fiofi 
cules ; Ayles bent in. The carex leporina of our Er.glifh 
authors and others, is different from this. The original 
leporina, now preferved in the Jdnnaean Herbarium, has 
only three fpikelets, is a much fmaller plant than ours, 
and differs in many refpefls. 
ir. Carex vulpina, or great fedge : fpike fuperdecorn- 
pound, contrafted-branched, blunt; fpikelets male at top ; 
capfules diverging; angles of the culm very (harp. Dr. 
Goodenough remarks, that of this well-known fpecies no. 
doubt cau be entertained. The floutnefs of the culm, the 
clofenefs and rigid nature of the fpike, and its fuperde- 
compofition, mark it very firongly. Obferve alfo, that 
the fpike has many brafles, ending in a briftle-fhaped leaf; 
that the culm is more fharply triangular, and the fides 
hollowed; the capfules divaricate; the culm enlarged 
below the fpike, and feeming fuddenly contracted when it 
meets the rachis of the fpike. Haller obferves, that this 
fpecies is much fubjetl to vary. Scopoli gives them three 
varieties, and remarks, that they have all a bifid twe- 
fiyled netlnry. It is common in marfhes, and on the 
banks of rivers and ditches ; flowering in May. 
12. Carex brikoides, or rough fedge: fpikes compound, 
diftich, naked ; fpikelets androgynous, oblong, contigu¬ 
ous; culm naked. Stem flender, three-cornered, eighteen 
inches high ; leaves fcarcely a line wide. 
13. Carex muricata, or fpiked fedge : fpike oblong, fub- 
decompound ; fpikelets diflinCt; capfules diverging, with 
cloven mouth ; root fibrous; leaves bright green, narrow, 
rough along tiie edges and keel, longer than the culm, 
which is upright, a foot and more in height, three-fided, 
the angles (harp and rough. This fpecies is found in woods 
and meadows that are moift; it flowers in Mav and June. 
14. Carex loliacea: fpikelets fubovate, feflile, remote, 
androgynous; capfules ovate, roundifh, awnlefs, divari¬ 
cate. Root creeping; leaves graffy, tender, fmooth, and 
even. Native of Sweden and Saxony. 
15. Carex remota, or remote fedge : fpikelets axillary, 
folitary, fubfeflile, remote; leaflets very long; capfules 
undivided at the tip. A very elegant plant ; fiems feve¬ 
ral, one to two feet high, flender, weak, three-cornered, 
above the lowed floral leaf rough, below fmooth. There 
is only one fpecies in the whole family which has any affi¬ 
nity to tIris, namely axillaris; but that is readily drftin- 
guilhed by having three or more fpikelets at the bafe of 
each braCtaceous leaf. This is found in mo'ifl woods, and 
by the fides of ditches, flowering in May and June. Dr. 
Goodenough mentions another from Scotland, given him 
by Mr. Lightfoot, nearly related to this, if not the fame. 
16. Carex elongate: fpikelets oblong, feffile, remote, 
androgynous; capfules ovate, acute. Culms two feet 
high, rough, three-cornered, almoft naked. Leaves re¬ 
volute, rough, one or two lines in breadth. 
17. Carex canefcens, or grey fedge : fpikelets roundifh, 
remote, feflile, obtuf'e, androgynous ; capfules ovate, 
bluntifh. Native of Lapland, Upland, &c. 
18. Carex paniculata, or panicled fedge: fpike Aiper- 
decompound, panicled-branched, acute ; branches alter¬ 
nate, f'omewhat remote; capfules fpieading, culm three. 
9 S “ fided*. 
