102 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE GENUS CAREX. 
plicatis, margine membranaceis ; carina eiliato-scabra, rarius 
sublsevigata; rostro plus minus longo. Achenium stipitatum, 
l-l-\- lin. longum, \ lin. latum, piano-triquetrum, pallidum, 
basi styli sequali apiculatum. Stylus puberulus. Spathella 
gibbosa. 
A C. ramosa, Scbk., differ! inflorescentia magis compacta, 
simpliori; spicis singulis aggregatis j ramis ad basin spiculi- 
feris, erectis; perigyniis glabris, latioribus, bifidis, laciniis su- 
bulatis, margine membranaceis, brevioribus. 
I have no hesitation in referring the C. Indica of the authors 
quoted to this species. The “ spicis compositis, ramis aggregatis, 
capsulis depresso-triquetris ” of Wahlenberg, exactly apply to it, 
and not to the C. Indica of Linnaeus, to which he, Willdenow, 
and Schkuhr referred it. They all refer it to the island of Bour¬ 
bon. Kunth gives the description of Nees, but adds one of his 
own from a specimen from the Mauritius, which he says is similar 
to the Bourbon one in Herb. "Willdenow. Lamarck copies the de¬ 
scription of Linnaeus, translating into French Linnseus’s observa¬ 
tions, and afterwards alludes to a specimen he has of Commerson 
from Bourbon, which he says offers some particulars not expressed 
by Linnaeus. Poiret, in the Supplement to the French Encyclo¬ 
paedia under O. Indica, quotes all the above references to Will de¬ 
now, Wahlenberg, and Schkuhr. 
I have had an opportunity, through the kindness of M. Spaeh, 
of examining the specimens in the Paris collection, gathered in 
the isle of Bourbon by Commerson, Richard, and Boivin, and one 
from the Mauritius in Herb. Hooker. They differ in the pale or 
ferruginous colour of the inflorescence, in the smoothness or rough¬ 
ness of the perigynium, which is from ^ to t 8 q- of a line in breadth, 
in the length of the rostrum, the lacinias acute or obtuse, often 
unequal and more or less ciliate, and in the squamae being more 
or less obtuse or emarginate. The species is well characterized 
by the compact spikes, the branches being erect, the spiculse ap- 
pressed, rarely patent, and the perigynia but slightly excurved. 
The specimens figured are,— 
Tab. CCCI. From the Isle of Bourbon, gathered by Boivin, the 
same as the plant from the Mauritius in Herb. Hooker. 
Tab. CCCII. (3. With rough perigynia and squamse, from Bour¬ 
bon, Hichard. 
Tab. CCCIII. y. From Bourbon ( Commerson ), the perigynia 
broader, more or less scabrous, the rostrum short, the style very 
rough, and the achenium occasionally with a linear racheola. 
Tab. CCCIY. From Abyssinia, ScJmnper (Herb. Mus. Paris). 
There are no essential characters in the Abyssinian plant to jus¬ 
tify its separation from the insular one. The perigynium is longer, 
and the upper bracts shorter, and the squamas occasionally muticse. 
Tab. CCCV. Isle of Bourbon, Boivin, a solitary specimen in 
Herb. Mus. Paris, with short leaves, otherwise in squamse ap¬ 
proaching G. crinigera, B. 
249. C. crinigera (Boott) ; spica longissima ferruginea 
concolori supradecomposita, e spicis partialibus sub 12 
(ambitu late ovato) laxis patulis, extremis singulis, re- 
liquis geminis insequalibus, superioribus sessilibus evagi- 
natis pinnatim, inferioribus subaequaliter distantibus longe 
graciliter exserte pedunculatis duplicato vel deorsum ra- 
mosis subtriplicato pinnatim compositis ; ramis basi 
nudis; spiculis lanceolatis alternis divaricatis plus minus 
apice masculis; stigmatibus 3, longis ; perigyniis fusi- 
formibus triquetris longe rostratis alte bicuspidatis (laci¬ 
niis filiformibus) undique scaberrimis tenuiter nervatis 
obliquis vel subexcurvis, squama lanceolata acuta aristata 
striato-nervosa scaberrima ferruginea ssepe concolori an- 
gustioribus longioribusque. (Tab. CCCYI.-CCCVIII.) 
Yar. /3; minor. (Tab. CCCIX.) 
Hab. In the Island of Bourbon (Herb. Mus. Paris). 
Culmus 3-pedalis, validus, he vis, superne scaber ; pars spicas 
gerens 2-2|-pedalis. Folia 3-4 lin. lata, culmum subsequantia, 
rigida. Bractece inferiores 3-4 lin. late, longse, vagin atm; 
superiores angustse, culmo breviores. Vagina inferiores 2-3 
poll, longee. Pedunculi inferiores 3-5 poll, longi, graciles, 
scabri. Spica partiales superiores subpollicem longee, singulse, 
sessiles, contiguse: reliquse geminate, 2-31 poll, longsc, 11-21 
poll, late, insequales, deorsum basi magis ramosse ; ramis 
apertis, basi nudis; raclii scabra, saepe flexuosa. Rami, ut 
spiculse, e spathella egredientes, bracteolis minimis setaceis 
suffulti. Spicula 4-8 lin. longse, divaricate. Squama con- 
formes, scaberrimse. Perigynium 21 lin. longum, 1 lin. latum, 
nervis marginalibus magis prominentibus, alte bicuspidatum, 
laciniis filiformibus 1 lin. longis undique scaberrimum. Ache¬ 
nium (cum stipite lin. longo) 1— lin. longum, plus quam 
t 4 0 - lin. latum, triquetrum, fuscurn, basi styli sequali apicula¬ 
tum. Stylus puberulus. 
C. ramosa seems to have been established by Schkuhr, on speci¬ 
mens from the Mauritius, as Willdenow quotes his figure, which 
however was not published till 1806, when he corrected Willdenow’s 
error as to the number of stigmata. Kunth, under G. ramosa, 
quotes G. cruciata, Wahl., as a synonym, on the authority of Wahl¬ 
enberg in his FI. Lapponica, p. 250, and consequently gives all the 
habitats of Schkuhr, Wahlenberg, Willdenow, and Nees, thus 
making it a native of the Mauritius, China, and the East Indies. 
He describes it from specimens sent to him from Paris, which he 
says are like those of Willdenow, but does not say of which coun¬ 
try they were native. 
Nees has no G. ramosa in his list in Wight’s ‘Contributions,’ but 
he speaks of it under G. meiogyna. I infer, therefore, he consi¬ 
dered it distinct from 0. cruciata, Wahl. Had he thought them 
the same, he worrld have quoted G. ramosa as a synonym to G. 
cruciata, and have contrasted his G. meiogyna with G. cruciata, 
which he describes, and not with G. ramosa. I am informed by 
M. Spaeh that there is no authentic specimen of G. ramosa, so 
named, in the Paris Herbarium, but it was probably established 
on specimens collected by Commerson or Petit-Thouars, as such 
are in the herbarium of the garden of plants found by them in 
the Mauritius. There is also a specimen from the same island in 
Herb. Hooker, from Bojer. 
I have, through the kindness of M. Spaeh, had the opportunity 
of examining a suite of specimens of G. crinigera from the Paris 
collection, gathered in the island of Bourbon by Richard, Boivin, 
Bernier, and Gaudichaud, which differ from G. ramosa in geminate 
spikes, larger spiculse, and a deeply bifid and highly excurved peri¬ 
gynium, scabrous squamse, and a more complex inflorescence. The 
fig. n. 201, of Schkuhr, is the only authority I have for his G. 
ramosa, which is a native of the Mauritius. I am not aware of 
the date of Commerson’s or Petit-Thouars’s visit to that island, 
but I think it probable the specimens of G. crinigera sent to Paris 
by the collectors above named, from the island of Bourbon, must 
have been much later, and perhaps also posterior to the publica¬ 
tion of Schkuhr’s work in 1806. 
The specimens figured are,-— 
Tab. CCCYI. The lower and 
Tab. CCCYII. the upper portion of a specimen from the island 
of Bourbon (Richard). In Tab. CCCYII. at»xxx is a branch 
of the panicle with 3 spiculse, the lateral ones with a solitary fe¬ 
male floret. The separate spicula on the right is more enlarged, 
showing a bract, and the spathella open to the base bearing a pis¬ 
til, clearly indicating the nature of the spathella, which in these 
paniculate species is either sterile (an axis only issuing from it), 
or bearing a normal floret, or a pistil, or stamens only. 
Tab. CCCYIII. A partial spike much enlarged, with separate 
spiculse, with one or more female florets, or entirely male, the spa- 
thellse either sterile, or with a normal floret or a pistil only. 
1. A spicula seen in a front and back view, entirely male, the 
spathella sterile. 
2. A spicula seen in a back and front view, with a solitary fe¬ 
male floret in the form of a pistil only issuing from the spathella. 
3. The same as No. 2, the spathella removed to show the pistil. 
4. A spicula with a solitary female floret, sterile spathella, and 
bract. 
