116 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE GENUS CAREX. 
which Kunth drew his description of this species, and M. Spacli 
subsequently sent me one of Bonpland’s for examination from the 
Herb. Mus. Paris. The spikes of the Berlin specimen, and the 
entire specimen of Bonpland, are figured in Tab. OCOLXYII. I 
owe to my late friend Hr. Charles Lemann the specimens from 
Jameson and Mathews; to Dr. Gray for Couthouy’s ; to Mr. 
Bentham for a sight of Spruce’s; and to M. Sonder, of Hamburg, 
for those of Lechler. I have no hesitation in referring Purdie’s 
plant, described at p. 26 and figured in Tab. LXVII. of these Illus¬ 
trations to that of ICunth. The spiculse in the specimens of Bon¬ 
pland are male at base, though Kunth described them “ spiculis 
mere fcemineis.” As usual, the species varies in the size and co¬ 
lour of the spike, the number of the spikelets, 6-12, the lower ones 
occasionally distinct, the number and length of the bracts, 2-5, 
the longer or shorter rostrum and the degree of its marginal rough¬ 
ness. The perigynium varies from to 2 t u lin. long, fg-fo lin. 
wide, and the achenium ^ lin. long, -fV-To lin. wide, in its mature 
state oblong-ovate, pointed at base. The stem is from 1 to 3 feet 
in height, and the spike 10 to 20 lines in length. Lechler’s speci¬ 
mens have a slender weak culm and narrow leaves and a small spike, 
but do not differ in the perigynium. 
Its nearest ally is G. elongata, L. 
Tab. CCCLXVII. No. 1, the spikes of the authentic specimens 
from Berlin; No. 2, the specimen of Bonpland, from Paris. 
274. C. scop aria, etc. 
The claims of this plant and its allied forms to specific distinc¬ 
tion have given rise to much difference of opinion. Torrey, in his 
monograph (1836), confining his view to the perigynium, thought 
specimens might be found so as to exhibit “ a gradation from the 
narrow fruit of G. scoparia to the almost orbicular and broadly 
winged fruit of C. straminea and he might have added 0. alata. 
His arrangement was— 
1. C. scoparia. 
C. arida. 
C. lagopodioides. 
2. C. f'estucacea. 
C. mirabilis. 
3. C. cristata. 
4. C. straminea. 
C. tenera. 
C. fcenea. 
5. C. alata. 
Tuckerman, in his ‘ Enumeratio Methodica’ (1843), admitted but 
two species— 
1. C. scoparia. 
C. arida. 
0. lagopodioides. 
2. C. straminea. 
C. fcenea. 
C. tenera. 
C. festucacea. 
C. mirabilis. 
C. cristata. 
C. alata P 
Carey, in the second edition of Gray’s ‘ Manual ’ (1856), omit¬ 
ting his G. adustci, which is not the plant of the El. Bor. Amer., 
has six species,— 
1. C. arida. 
2. C. scoparia. 
3. C. lagopodioides. 
C. cristata. 
4. C. festucacea. 
C. tenera. 
C. mirabilis. 
5. C. fcenea. 
6. C. straminea. 
G. alata, then supposed to be confined to the Southern States, 
did not come within the limits of the ‘ Manual.’ G. arida, which 
I have previously noticed (Tab. LIY.), is admitted now on all 
hands to be distinct; and C. Liddoni (Tab. LIII.), a single speci¬ 
men of which I have, through the kindness of Dr. Torrey, lately 
seen from Santa Rita del Cobra, New Mexico {Dr. Digelow), 
must still be left to future observation, though I think it distinct 
from 0. arida. 
Those at present under view may, from the prevailing form of 
the perigynium, be arranged as follows :— 
Perigyniis ovali- vel ovato-lanceolatis: — 
1. C. scoparia. 
2 . C. lagopodioides. 
3. 0. cristata. 
Yar. mirabilis. 
Perigyniis ovatis orbiculatis vel obovatis :— 
4. C. fcenea. 
5. C. alata. 
6 . C. adusta. 
7. C. straminea. 
Yar. tenera. 
„ aperta. 
„ festucacea. 
„ typica. 
„ Crawei. 
„ Meadii. 
274. C. scoparia (Schkuhr); spicis 5-7 rarius 3-10, 
ovalibus utrinque acutis demum apice obtusis apertis 
alternatim approximates vel coarctatis fulvis nudis vel 
inferioribus setaceo-bracteatis ; perigyniis elliptico-lan- 
ceolatis attenuato-rostratis bidentatis plus minus alatis 
utrinque nervatis imbricatis, squama lanceolata acumi¬ 
nata acutissima superne pallide fulva longioribus.—C. 
scoparia, Sch/c. f. 175; Willd. 230; Kunth , 396; Schw. 
et Torrey, 313; Torrey, Cyp. 394; Dewey, viii. 94; 
Carey, 515; Sartwell, Kces. n. 41; Chap. 535. (Tab. 
CCCLXVIII.) 
Hab. In America sept. Arctic America to South 
Carolina. 
Culmus ssepe 2-pedalis, gracilis, apice acute triqueter, sca- 
ber. Folia f-l x lin. lata, culmo breviora. Spica 10 lin. ad 
2 pollices longa, 3-5 lin. lata. Squamae rnascuhc latiores, ob- 
tusse, fulvEe, margine albo-hyalinae. Perigynium 2-f —A- lin. 
longum, T y— r s ,- lin. latum, attenuato-rostratum. Achenium 
bn. longum, plus T V lin. latum, ovale, lenticulare, stipita- 
tum. 
_ Yar. minor! ; spicis ferrugineis concoloribus contiguis 
vel capitatis; bracteis 2-3, spica longioribus; perigyniis 
minoribus ( I tu -tu I' 111 - longis, q- 0 - lin. latis), postice sub- 
inde enerviis. (Tab. CCCLXIX.) 
ITab. Arctic America, New Hampshire. 
Culmus -\-pollicaris. Spica 6-7 lin. longa. 
A. C. lagopoclioi.de differt culmo gracili ; foliis angustiori- 
bus; vaginis arete vestientibus; spicis fulvis ovalibus utrinque 
acutis; perigyniis longioribus latioribus, rostro attenuato, im¬ 
bricatis, demum superioribus apertis ; squamis fcemineis acu- 
tissimis. 
In only one specimen out of very many the lower spike was 
compound. 
The specimens figured are,— 
Tab. CCCLXYIII. Penn Yan, from Herb. Tuckerman, exhi¬ 
biting his var. moniliformis. 
Tab. CCCLXIX. The var. minor, from pastures at the base of 
the "White Mountains, Tuckerman. 
275. G. lagopodioides (Schkuhr); spicis 10-15 vel 
pluribus ovalibus vel obovatis obtusis in capitulum ob- 
longum coarctatis pallide viridibus demum bnmneis con- 
