TRIANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. Carex. 
137 
Dicks. II. S. —(. E. Bot. 580. E.)— Curt. 282.— H. Ox. viii. 12. 3. 
Boot creeping 1 . Straw varying in height from three inches to two feet or 
more; three-square, angles very acute and rough. Leaves narrow, up¬ 
right, of a pleasant green, shorter than the straw, rough at the edges 
and on the keel. Barren spikes two, rarely three, slender, one to three 
inches long, scales oblong, blunt, black. Fertile spikes three, slender, 
lower ones sometimes on fruit-stalks, pendulous when in flower, upright 
when ripe, generally terminated by some barren florets, and therefore 
pointed. Scales oblong, acute, black, rather shorter than the capsules. 
Floral-leaf one at the base of each fertile spike, often expanded at the 
bottom. Capsules mostly disposed in eight rows, egg-shaped, acute, 
compressed, closely tiled, entire and closed at the end. The slender 
habit of this plant in all its parts, its thread-shaped spikes drooping whilst 
in flower, its two summits, and its compressed flattish capsules entire at 
the end, keep it distinct from every other species. Gooden. Fertile spike 
as long as the terminal barren spike. Curt. 
(Mr. Brunton (Bot. Guide, p. 716.) reports a curious variety of this plant 
found near Rippon, in which the stamens grow out. of the tunic of the 
seed; and another still more remarkable has been communicated to Mr. 
Dawson Turner, from Copgrove, Yorkshire, by the Rev. J. Dalton, with 
very numerous barren spikes, the lower fertile ones on long peduncles, 
the spikes nearly as large as those of C. riparia, and the glumes awned 
and much longer than the fruit. E.) 
Slender Spiked Seg. (Welsh: Hesgen eidd.il-dywysenog. E.) C. gra¬ 
cilis. Curt. C. acuta /3. FI. Suec. Edges of rivers, ponds, and ditches, 
and also in meadows. Flowers a week or two later than C. riparia and 
paludosa. P. 
52. C. vesica'ria. Barren spikes strap-shaped; fertile ones oblong, 
expanding: capsules inflated, oblong, beak-pointed, expanding. 
FI. Dan. 647—( E. Bot. 779. E.)— Leers 16. 2. III. — H. Ox. viii. 12. 6—•• 
Barr. 113. 1. 
Root creeping. Straio two feet high, three-square, angles very acute and 
rough. Leaves pale green, taller than the flowering straw, narrow, edges 
and keel rough. Barren spikes terminal, upright, upper one, one to two 
inches long, the other shorter, slender, somewhat three-cornered: scales 
oblong, rather blunt, yellow. Fertile spikes on fruit-stalks, nearly Up¬ 
right, one to two inches long : scales spear-shaped, but narrow and very 
acutely pointed, pale, at first twice the length of the capsule, afterwards 
only half its length. Floral-leaf, one at the base of every female spike, 
taller than the straw. Capsules loosely disposed, expanding, smooth, 
yellowish, egg-oblong, taper, and almost beaked at the end, which is 
cloven. Summits three. Its yellow hue, narrow short scales, and in¬ 
flated smooth conic capsules, point it out beyond all danger of mistake. 
Gooden. 
Bladder Seg. (C. inflata. Lightf. Welsh: Hesgen chwysigenaidd, her - 
dywysennog. E.) Marshes. Woods in the New Forest, Hampshire. 
Edgbaston Pool, near Birmingham. (Near Bodgylchad Lake, Beauma¬ 
ris. Rev. H. Davies. Bot. Guide. Wisbech, in a field near the New- 
Common Bridge, Cambridgeshire. Mr. Skrimshire, ditto. Near Castle 
Eden and Darlington, Durham; also in Heaton Wood, and at Prestwick 
Carr, Northumberland. Mr. Winch. In a pit of water near Great Alne, 
Alcester. Purton. E.) P. May—June. 
