105 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
OF 
THE GENUS CARE I. 
PART III. 
251. C. filicina (Nees); spica elongata fusco-rubra, e 
spicis partialibus pluribus laxis duplicato-pinnatim vel 
supra-decompositis rarius singulis, inferioribus plerumque 
geminis remotis longe insequaliter exserte pedunculatis 
erectis, ramis divaricatis, ambitu triangulari; spiculis 
oblongis divaricatis, apice flosculis masculis 4-12 imbrica- 
tis, basi fcemineis pluribus, demum plus minus dissitis, in- 
structis; bracteis latis foliaceis culnio brevioribus ; stig- 
matibus 3 ; perigyniis ovalibus vel ellipticis triquetris, 
pallidis vel rarius ferrugineo-maculatis, plus minus longe 
subulato-rostratis divaricatis arcuatim deflexis, rostro 
glabro vel ad margines ssepe sparsim dentato, ore integro 
postice oblique secto ferrugineo membranaceo, glabris, 
rarius superne sparsim scabris 2-4-nervatis, squama 
ovata obtusiuscula mutica vel mucronata dorso scabra 
rubro-fusca longioribus.—C. filicina, Nees, apud Wight, 
p. 123. C. meiogyna, Nees, l. c. 
Hab. In montibus temperatis et subtropicis Indim 
borealis et australis, 4-10,000 ped., Wallicli, Boyle, etc. 
In montibus Nilghiri, Wight. Ceylonia, Walker. In 
Java, Horsfield. (Tab. CCCXI.-CCCXVIII.) 
Culmus T|-5-pedal is, validus, lsevis; pars spicas gerens 
1-3 pedes longa. Folia 4-8 lin. lata, firma. Spices partiales 
singulse, plerumque geminse, insequales, plus minus amplge, 
1 J-6 poll, longse, 1— 2-| poll, latsej ramis divaricatis; rachi 
scabra. Spicules 3-8 lin. longse, 1 |—2 lin. latae, inferne ple¬ 
rumque demum laxiflorse. Squamcs masculse lanceolatse, 4-12, 
imbricatse, muticse, glabrae: foeminese inferiores, scabrse, nunc 
mucronatse, ovatse, obtusiusculse, vel lanceolatse, acuminatse. 
Perigynium pallidum, glabrum vel superne et ad margines ros- 
tri scabrum: superiora recta: inferiora demum plerumque 
dissita, divaricata, arcuatim deflexa: ore ferrugineo, mem¬ 
branaceo, postice alte oblique secto : l|-2 lin. longum, N~tit 
lin. latum : rostro plus minus longo, — 3 q—1 lin. longo: nervis 
marginalibus magis prominentibus, inter margines sitis. Ache- 
nium -jSg- lin. longum, T \—fp lin. latum, conforme, basi styli 
persistente obliqua, apice disco circulari ampliata, basi decidua, 
clavata. 
This is a common species, and in its fullest development is one 
of the most beautiful of the paniculate group, sometimes 5 feet in 
height, with large lax spreading panicles of a dark chestnut colour. 
It varies in its inflorescence, not only from the size, but the dif¬ 
fuseness of its partial spikes, and the degree of compactness in 
the arrangement of the florets in the spiculse, depending partly on 
the various stages of development in the specimens we see in her¬ 
baria, or upon locality. When the development is mature, the 
spiculse generally elongate and become lax-flowered. Nees founded 
his C. meiogyna upon young specimens, “ spiculis basi laze squa- 
mosis; squamis masculis pluribus; ” but I cannot find anything 
constant in these characters. Taken arbitrarily, with the shorter 
rostrum of the perigynium, they might be considered a variety, 
though there are intermediate forms •which would not rank under 
it. The perigynium varies in the length of the rostrum, is often 
glabrous, or more or less scabrous above and at the margins of the 
rostrum. The female squamse are small, not often mucronate, 
unless it be the lower ones, which are also often scabrous. In 
specimens from the Peuinsula of India and Ceylon they are lan¬ 
ceolate and acuminate and smoother. 
Should C. meiogyna be considered by Indian botanists hereafter 
as distinct, the essential characters will be found in the more lax 
partial spikes, the more elongate lax-flowered spiculse, and the pe¬ 
rigynium with a shorter rostrum. As we see the plants in our 
herbaria, most of them are not mature, and hence the inflores¬ 
cence is more compact, and especially in those clearly referable to 
O. filicina, not one of which from Herb. Wight, on which the spe¬ 
cies was founded, is fully mature, and the spiculse consequently 
have not attained their full length, nor are they so lax-flowered as 
they would be in maturity. I have figured several specimens, 
which will enable others to understand the species and its varia¬ 
tions. 
Tab. CCCXI. A specimen from Myrung, Hr. Hooker; with 
compact female florets, and the rostrum T s -g —1 line long, the male 
florets few and inconspicuous. In Herb. Wight, with the same 
elongated rostrum, both those characters are modified, the male 
florets as numerous as they are said to be in O. meiogyna. 
Tab. CCCXII. A specimen from Saureem, Hr. Hooker; the 
male florets more distinct, and a shorter rostrum. The obliquity 
of the permanent base of the style, I think, depends on the arched 
decurvation of the rostrum, not perceptible in the upper perigy- 
nia, which are straight. 
Tab. CCCXIII. A specimen from J?agu, Hr. Thomson; with 
single partial spikes, scabrous squamae, and smooth perigynium, 
and lax-flowered spiculse. The base of the style is often oblique. 
Tab. CCCXIY. Specimens from Mussooree, Hoyle, n. 82, on 
which Nees founded his C. meiogyna. The right-hand specimen 
has more male florets than the other. 
Tab. CCCXV. The two lower spikes, the upper one of which is 
