152 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE GENUS CAREX. 
of' it—that of the Brisbane River and New Zealand plant. If 
mere diminution of form, with its consequent lessening modifica¬ 
tion of the different parts were to be considered a ground for spe¬ 
cific distinction, we should be obliged to multiply species inde¬ 
finitely. The original specimens of Braun, those of Sieber and 
several others from Australia and Tasmania, are not fully mature, 
and it would not be safe to judge from them as to the existence of 
the corrugations which are so conspicuous in the mature speci¬ 
mens from the Swan and Brisbane rivers. Those corrugations 
o 
are absent or indistinct in the equally mature specimens from the 
Wanduc Yale, as they are in the New Zealand plant. The base 
of the style varies, and the form of the achenium is lenticular or 
plano-convex, the central portion of the convex surface being 
somewhat abruptly more prominent than its sides. 
The specimens figured are :— 
Tab. CCCCLXXXYI. A specimen of the Brisbane River 
plant, with perigynia from that of the Swan River, contrasting in 
form, length of rostrum, and breadth of aim. 
Tab. CCCCLXXXVII. 
n. 1. Specimen from "Wanduc Yale. 
n. 2. One from Herb. Braun, from Port Jackson, given by him 
to Tuckerman. 
Tab. CCCCLXXXYIII. 
n. 1. Specimens from New Zealand, Ralph. 
n. 2. From Tasmania, Gunn. 
n. 3. A specimen of Sieber, n. 543, showing the smaller and 
intermediate forms, and the different forms of the peri- 
gynium, the elliptic form often observable at the apex of 
the spiculae. 
352. C. heleonastes (Ehrhart) ; spica ovata vel oblonga 
castanea, e spiculis 3-5 androgynis basi masculis sub- 
sequalibus contiguis terminali subinde paulo majore ob- 
ovata, reliquis subrotundis parvis; bractea squamseformi 
rarius spicam superante; stigmatibus 2 ; perigyniis ovali- 
bus sensim rostratis basi acutis, ore antice alte secto 
demum hyalino plano-convexis utrinque leviter nervatis 
glabris vel superne margine parce dentatis granulatis pal- 
lidis demum castaneis, squama ovata obtusiuscula vel 
acuta sequilata castanea margine albo-hyalina longioribus 
vel subsequantibus.—C. keleonastes, Fhrh. Phyt. n. 28; 
Wall. Act. 146, et FI. Lap. 230, et Suec. ; Settle, f. 97 ; 
Willd. 228 ; Kunth , 393 ; Hoppe, f. 25 ; Gay, Ann. Sc. 
Nat. 11, 181 (1839); ILooher, FI. Bor. Am. 214; 
Koch, 870 ; Beich. 6, t. 204; Andersson, 62, t. 4,/. 30; 
Lange, 54; FI. Boss. 279. C. leporina, Settle. F. F. F. 
/. 129 ( excl. syn., C. lagopina). C. Carltonia, Dewey, 
27, 238 ; Torr. Cyp. 393. C. marina, Dewey, 29, 247 ; 
Torr. Cyp. 393. (Tab. CCCCLXXXIX.) 
Hab. In Europa et Arner. arct., in paludibus turfosis. 
—Lapland to Switzerland. Arctic America, Bichard- 
son. Rocky Mountains, Drummond. 
Csespitosa. Radix stolonifera, fibris saepe pallidis. Culmus 
7-12-pollicaris, strictus, acute triqueter, scaber. Folia \-% 
lin. lata, culmo breviora vel longiora, plana, carinata, stricta, 
firma, glaucescentia. Spica 6-8 lin. longa, 3-4 lin. lata, 
Spiculae omnes basi masculae, aequales, vel summa major basi 
cuneata. Perigynium 1— lin. longum, p i: - lin. latum. Ache¬ 
nium A lin. longum, -p-,- lin. latum, ovale, plano-convexum, 
conforme, ferrugineum, basi styli deciduae. 
A C. lagopina, Wahl., differt culmo acute triquetro, stricto, 
scabriore; foliis erectis, glaucescentibus, angustis, firmioribus; 
perigynio piano-convexo, subinde dentato, ore antice secto. 
Wahlenberg describes the spiculae as equal, which is not always 
the case. He, Andersson, and Lange allude to the “ sinus rimee- 
formis ” of the orifice, one margin of which is often hyaline, over¬ 
lapping the other. Lang refers to the different form ascribed to 
the perigynium. It is certainly plano-convex, and at times dis¬ 
tinctly nerved. Drejer (Rev. 25) refers the Greenland and Spits¬ 
bergen plant to his G. lagopina, 13. G. Carltonia, Dewey, is erro¬ 
neously described with three stigmas. His G. marina is young, 
but is clearly referable to G. heleonastes. 
In Tab. CCCCLXXXIX., n. 1, are specimens from Sweden, 
from Wahlenberg and Fries; n. 2, ££ O. Carltonia Dewey, from 
Arctic America; n. 3, “ O. marina ,” Dewey, from the Arctic sea- 
coast (Richardson). 
353. C. polystachya (Swartz); spica paniculata elon- 
gata laxa, e spicis partialibus apertis alternis com- 
posita, superioribus approximate sessilibus pinnatim 
spiculiferis, omnibus singulis vel inferioribus vel mediis 
tantum geminatis deorsum remotioribus insequaliter ex- 
serte pedunculatis basi ramosis, spiculis oblongis an¬ 
drogynis apice masculis demum horizontaliter paten- 
tibus ; bracteis culmo longioribus ; stigmatibus 3 ; 
perigyniis ellipticis triquetris subulato-rostratis bifidis 
viridibus demum olivaceis nervesis glabris vel ad mar- 
gines plus minus sparsim dentatis, rectis vel subexcur- 
vis, squama ovata acuta vel obtusa liispido-aristata 
striato-nervosa ferruginea apice hyalino albida patenti 
longioribus.— C. polystachya, Sivartz, FI. Ind. Occ. 
App.; Wahl. Act. Holm. p. 149 (1803); Willd. 4, 
247; Settle, p. 41 ; Kunth, Cyp. 507. (Tab. CCCCXC.- 
CCCCXCII.) 
Hab. In summis montibus Jamaicse, Swartz; Ml Ft ah. 
Cumana, Fundee, n. 707 (Herb. Hooker). 
Culmus 1-llr-pedalis, gracilis, rigidus, glaber, basi vaginis 
ferrugineis tectus; pars spicas gerens 9-12 poll, longa. Folia 
1-1 j lin. lata, culmo longiora, rigida, carinata, marginibus 
revolutis. Bracteae foliaceae, culmo longiores, omnes vaginatse; 
vaginae 1-12 lin. longa;. Pedunculi inaequales, scabri; infe- 
riores 2-3 pollices longi, exserti. Spicae partiales ambitu 
ovato 6-8-, alternae 6-12-stachyae, apertse; mediae saepius 
vel inferiores geminatae, una major longius pedunculata ; 
superiores pinnatae; inferiores, e ramulis 1-2 basilaribus, sub- 
duplicato-pinnatae. Spiculae 3-6 lin. longae, 2 lin. latae, apice 
flosculis masculis paucioribus, basi femineis 6-12 instructs ; 
demum horizontaliter patentes, bracteola squamiformi longe 
setaceo-aristata suffultae; omnes e squama tumida nervosa, 
saccata egredientes. Squamae ferrugineae; masculae lan¬ 
ceolate, mucronatae, imbricate; feminee ovate, inferiores 
longius aristate, dorso scabriuscule, nervose. Perigynium 
1 iw bn. longum, x 6 <y lin. latum, glabrum, sepius versus me¬ 
dium ad latera, iuterdum magis ad unum latus sparsim den- 
tatum. Achenium stipitatum, T s 0 - lin. longum, Lo lin. latum, 
ovali triquetrum, fuscum, basi styli apiculatum. 
I am indebted to my late much-loved friend, Charles Stokes, 
Esq., for Jamaica specimens of this plant, which I refer to the G. 
polystachya of Swartz; at the same time, having no distinct idea 
of the difference between it and G. cladostachya, Wahl., I can see 
no essential characters by which to distinguish the Cumana from 
the insular specimens, though in them, as in G. Sartwegii, the 
contractile nature of the tumid scale at the base of the spiculae is 
more apparent than in the Jamaica plant, for it evidently depresses 
them below the horizontal level, and before the full maturity of 
the perigynium. In both plants, the spiculae are at first erect, 
and it is impossible, from the position and aspect of this scale, 
not to attribute the change of direction in the spiculae to its 
action. I have called it a scale, but I have no doubt that it is a 
modified perigynium, for I find in many species a proliferous ten- 
