ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE GENUS CAREX. 
71 
Spica terminalis 6 lin. longa, 3 lin. lata: foeminese 5-9 lin. 
longse, 3-4 lin. latse. Squamae mascuke latiores, obtusae : fce- 
minese latitudine variables. Perigynium late ovale, obtusum, 
abrupte rostellatum, 21 lin. longum, ly o lin. latum, squama 
ssepe triplo latius : vel ellipticum, sensim rostellatum, 1 lin. 
latum; ore albido, emarginato, bidentato. Achenium (cum 
stipite df lin. longo) 1 lin. longum, Vu lin. latum, triquetro- 
ellipticum, pallidum. 
Yar. minor, spicis 2-3 rarius 1 nutantibus ovalibus 
omnino fcBmineis vel superioribus apice vel medio mas- 
culis. (Tab. CXCIY. Tig. 1.) 
TIab. In Himalaya orientali alpina ad Sikkim, alt. 
14-17,000 ped., J. D. Hooker. In Tibetia occidental! 
alpina, alt. 17,000 ped., Strachey et Winterlottom, ad 
Nnbra, Dr. Thomson, 15-17,000 ped. 
In Tab. CXCIII. I have figured (n. 1) a specimen from Da- 
liuria sent to me by M. Fischer as his “ C. coriophora; ” (n. 2) a 
specimen from the Altai from Ledebour, as his “ O. usttdata y ; ” 
and (n. 3) a specimen from Dovrefield, Norway, “ O. ustidata.” In 
examining the specimens I have of G. ustulaia from Europe, North 
America, and the Himalayas, I can detect no characters by which 
O. coriophora can be distinguished. In Etuope, C. usttdata has 
one or two male spikes, though I have specimens from Hoppe in 
which the terminal spike is male at the base or apex; and in North 
American specimens it is male at the apex or in the middle. The 
cinnamon- colour of the typical G. coriophora is observable more or 
less in specimens I have of G. ustidata from Lapland, from Wah- 
lenberg, in one of ivhicli the lower spicida is compound, and the 
scales lanceolate, and longer than the perigynium. The scales 
vary in breadth, broader at the base of the spiculse, becoming 
narrower, very acuminate, and at times mucronate at the top. 
The var. minor from the high mountains of India passes from 
the single spike to the usual number of spicules found in G. ustu- 
lata, but it is remarkable for the occasional absence of male florets, 
and the orifice of the perigynium is more acute than usual. There 
is however an insensible transition from it to the usual habit of 
G. usttdata in the specimens brought by Dr. Hooker from the 
Himalaya. Anderson (Cyp. Scand. p. 39), in his description of G. 
alpina, alludes to a similar dwarfed state of that species: “ Quo 
altius in loca alpina adscendit, eo magis contrahuntur partes omnes; 
ut demum in cacumina summa alpium fere bipollicaris emergit 
culmus: spicae 2-3 quasi in unam (immo sola ssepe evadit) col- 
lectse.” The details given in Tab. CXCIII. are of n. 1, and of 
n. 3, the last on the right-hand of the plate. 
G. ustidata, Wahl., has a very wide range, extending in Europe 
from the mountains of Scotland to those of Norway, Lapland, and 
Iceland. In Asia from the Altai to the Himalayas, Nipal (Wal- 
lich, n. 3389 a), Sikkim (J. D. Hooker), Tibet (Strachey and 
Winterbottom), Nubra (Dr. Thomson) ; and in North America, 
from Labrador (Torrey), Igloolik (Sir Ed. Parry), Minto Inlet 
(Anderson), to the Arctic seacoast (Sir John Richardson). 
The Asiatic and Indian specimens vary from the European ones 
in the variable distribution of the male florets. 
Specimens from Norway, Finmark, and Lapland:—■ 
3 with 3 spikes. 12 with 1 male spike. 
8 „ 4 3 „ 2 
4 „ 5 
In 2 the lower female spike was compound. 
Specimens from India:— 
5 with 3 spikes. 4 with 1 male spike. 
3 „ 4 1 „ 2 
2 „ 5 4 with terminal spike male in the 
middle. 
1 with terminal spike male at apex. 
In one the second spike was male at the base, and in one male 
at the apex. 
Specimens from North America:— 
1 with 3 spikes. 1 male. 
3 „ 4 3 with terminal spike male towards the 
base. 
Yar. coriophora, Dahuria and Altai :— 
3 with 4 spikes. 3 with 1 male. 
3 „ 5 2 with terminal spike male at base. 
2 „ 6 2 with terminal spike male at base and 
apex. 
1 (of six spikes) all female. 
In one the second spike was male at apex (the terminal one 
being male at base and apex). 
Var. minor , India :— 
8 with 1 spike. 27 all female. 
15 „ 2 8 with terminal spike male at apex. 
15 „ 3 3 with the two upper spikes male at the 
apex. 
181. C. alpina (Vahl), var. erostrata, Boott; spicis 
3-5 oblongis obtusis sessilibns congestis densifloris atro- 
purpureis flavidisque, terminali basi mascnla, reliquis fce- 
mineis, infima brevissime bracteata ; stigmatibus 3 ; pe- 
rigyniis ovalibus vel oblongo-obovatis erostribus flavidis, 
ore purpureo integro vel leviter emarginato, glabris plus 
minus nervatis superne tenuiter granulatis, squama ovata 
obtusissima vel acutiuscula sequilata atro-purpurea con- 
colori longioribus. (Tab. CXCIV. Tig. 2.) 
Hab. In Himalaya alpina, ad Kumaou, Boyle, n. 61, 
et ad Gugi, alt. 14,500-15,500 ped., Strachey et Win¬ 
ter bottom. 
Culmus 4-9-poll., acute triqueter, scaber, gracillimus, cur- 
vatus, basi rudimentis foliorum purpureis albo-nervatis tectus; 
pars spicas gerens 6-7 lin. longa. Folia 1-11 lin. lata, culmo 
breviora, plana; demum marcida, flavida. Bractea squamsefor- 
mis, subulato-apiculata, spicula brevior : vel mutica: altera 
sterilis foliacea, culmum subsequans, ssepe e spicis subpollicem 
remota, brevissime vaginans. Auricula purpurea. Squamae 
omnes conformes. Spicae 4-5 lin. longse, 24 lin. latse, subse- 
quales vel mediae minores. Perigynium 1-1 T - T lin. longum, 
h bn. latum, erostre, obtusum, glabrum, superne solum (sub 
lente) granulatum, leviter nervatum, flavidum, nervis concolo- 
ribus, ssepe inconspicuis. Achenium Vo lin. longum, -f lin. 
latum, ovale, triquetrum, pallidum, basi styli persistente api- 
culatum. 
A forma typica C. alpinae differt, culmo debiliori, curvato, 
scabriori; bracteis abbreviatis, infima sterili solum foliacea; 
spicis majoribus, oblongis, ssepe pluribus; perigyniis erostri¬ 
bus, ore subintegro, solum apice leviter granulatis. 
Anderson (Cyp. Scand. p. 39), in his description of G. alpina, 
speaks of it as “mirum in modum varians planta.” I have 
examined specimens from all countries, but have found none 
which entirely agree with Dr. Royle’s. The habit however is that 
of G. infuscata, Nees, which I think cannot be separated from C. 
alpina, though it has cuspidate squamae. The only form which has 
an erostrate perigynium is the C. holostoma, Drejer; but this 
variety or species has the rigidly erect culm of G. alpina, and its 
most striking character is the “ color perigynii viridescenti-glau- 
cus,” for the terminal spike is certainly occasionally androgynous, 
male at base. 
The specimens of Strachey and Winterbottom are young, and 
some only two inches high. 
182. C. Banksii (Boott); spicis 3—7 fusco-purpureis 
rarius ferrugineis oblongo-ovalibus vel cylindraceis pe- 
dunculatis, terminali mascula vel basi mascula, reliquis 
foemineis crassis, superioribus contiguis, inferioribus ex- 
serte pedunculatis plerumque nutantibus, infima remota ; 
bracteis vaginatis culmo longioribus; stigmatibus 3 ; 
perigyniis ovatis vel ovalibus rostratis, rostro tenui pur¬ 
pureo, ore obliquo bidentato, hyalino-tenuissimis albidis 
