218 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE GENUS CAREX. 
pius elongata purpureo- vel ferrugineo-albida, e spiculis 
2-4 oblongis erectis, mascula 1 rarius 2, femineis 1-3, 
suprema saepe masculae contigua sessili vel omnibus re- 
motis exserte pedunculatis ; bracteis vaginatis pedunculo 
brevioribus; stigmatibus 3 ; perigyniis lanceolatis corn- 
presso-triquetris longe rostratis, ore integro obliquo hya- 
lino (demum rupto bilobato), superne pilis adpressis 
scabris rarius glabris, marginibus scabris nervatis viridi- 
bus plus minus ferrugineo-tinctis, squama ovata obtusa 
vel acuminata acuta mutica ferruginea vel purpurea mar- 
gine albo-hyalina longioribus.—C. sempervirens, Vill. 
Davph. 214; Gaud. Agrost. 165, et Uelv. 89; Koch, 
881; Lange, 120 ; Reich. 21, t. 247; Greri. et Godr. 
420. C. ferruginea, Schk. f. 48 ( non Scopoli ); Willd. 
274; Kunth, 464 {excl. ejus descr.) ; Link, 360; Dec. 
FI. Lranc. 3, 123; Bertol. 119; At cud. 229. C. varie- 
gata, Lam. Fnc. 3, 389. C. varia, Host, t. 80. C. 
lsevis, Kit. ; Willd. 292. C. firma, /3, Wahl. Carp, et 
LLelv. C. alpestris, Gaud. Mr. C. saxatilis, Sul. C. 
alpina, Schrcmk. C. arida, Schleicher. C. chlorostachys, 
Stev.; JBiebst. 3, 615. C. erecta, Dec. Fl. Franc. 3, 
120, et 6, 292 (“capsule prolongee en un bee pointu 
obliquement tronque,” Dec.). 
Radix fibrosa. Culmus 6—15-pollicaris, obsolete trigorms, 
lsevis, basi foliatus. Folia 1—2 tin. lata ; culmea brevia, radi- 
calia, e medio sursum marcida. Bractece vaginatse, spiculis 
breviores. Vagina infima 3-9 lin. longa. Pedunculus infimus 
6 lin.-3 poll, etiam 9 poll, longus. Spicula 3-8 lin. longse, 1-21 
lin. latse ; omnes pedunculatse, remotse, vel summa feminea ses- 
silis, mascula arete contigua; inferiores longe exserte peduncu¬ 
latse ; infima rarius radicalis, longissime pedunculata. Squama 
conformes, ssepius obtusse, muticse, m argine late albo-hyalinse,vel 
acuminatse, acutse. Perigynium 2 1 ( \ r -3 T s (T lin. longum, H—fio 
lin. latum, superne pilis brevibus adpressis exasperatum, ad 
margines pilis longioribus apertis scabrum, ssepe crebre ner- 
vatum, ore obliquo integro demum bilobato plus minus (smpe 
conspicue) albo-hyalino, piano-triquetrum. Achenium (cum 
stipite lin. longo) Vfi lin. longum, -R lin. latum, ellipticum, 
inmqualiter triquetrum, pallidum, basi styli clavata erecta, 
apiculatum. 
Yar. /3; perigyniis brevius rostratis, ore bifidovix hya- 
lino, squamis femineis mucronatis masculis acutatis. 
Hab. Bavaria, from Martius. 
Yar. y; spiculis 3-4 rarius 5-7, masculis 1-2 proxi- 
mis apice vel apice et basi masculis, infima feminea; 
bracteis spiculis suis brevioribus; perigyniis glabris vel 
apice asperatis, squama obtusa mutica purpurea, nervo 
plerumque concolori, longioribus.—C. tristis, JBiebst. 3, 
6] 5 ; Led. Fl. Alt. 228 ; Kunth, 465; Fl. Ross. 294 ; 
Steud. 236. C. ferruginea, Stev. Masc. 4, 68. C. ste- 
nocarpa, Turc.z. {Herb. Boott). C.Schottii, Boiss. {Herb. 
Hooker). 
Hab. In Asia,—Caucasus, Biebst. Altai, Ljedeb. 
Dahuria, Turcz. Cilicia, Kotschy. 
Yillars says, “II n’y a rien de si commune que cette plante;” 
and Gaudin, “ Omnium nostrarum in Alpium locis siccioribus, 
etiam in jugis meridionalibus Italiam spectantibus vulgatissima.” 
Yillars adds, “ Les bergers la nomment la Barbe de pere, a cause 
de la tenacite de ses feuilles et de la propriety qu’elles ont de 
blanchir. Elies sont longues, flexibles, et passent 1’hiver jusqu’a 
ce que l’accroissement des nouvelles les fait depecher, en obli- 
terant les canaux de leur seve. Les moutons et les chevres n’en 
mangent pas. La raison en est que ses nouvelles feuilles ne parais- 
sent qu’a la fin de Mai, temps auquel les autres plantes sont deja 
venues. Gelle-ci est des plus dures, des moins savonneuses que 
je connaisse.” 
In the Alps of Switzerland and the Tyrol there are other spe¬ 
cies allied to it, especially G. fimbriata, Schk. (the G, hispidula, 
Gaudin), and C. ferruginea, Scopoli, which in herbaria are not 
easily distinguishable, and about which botanists, judging from 
specimens sent under different names, are not agreed. There are 
also other species recorded in Asia, and one in North America, 
which are imperfectly known from the immature state of the spe¬ 
cimens, which are perhaps not separable from the plant of Yillars. 
These last, however, have the male florets on the upper, or at times 
in all the spiculse variously distributed; while on a reference to 
European authors, I find no allusion to any such irregularity in 
C. sempervirens. They all describe it with one male and one to 
three female spiculse, and all the specimens I have confirm this 
description, with the exception that several have two male spi- 
culse. I find in 27 specimens,—■ 
6 with 2 spiculse. 21 with 1 male. 8 with 1 female. 
12 „ 3 6 „ 2 12 „ 2 
9 „ 4 7 „ 3 
In one specimen from the Pyrenees (Tab. ) the upper 
female has male florets at top, and in two others the lower female 
was radical, with long peduncles. 
The essential character of G. sempervirens is the entire, oblique, 
hyaline orifice of the perigynium, as shown by Schkuhr, fig. 48. 
This is easily ruptured, and thus becomes bifid or bilobed. The 
perigynium is rough upwards with appressed hairs, though Koch 
alludes to its being at times smooth, and Lange had always found 
it so. I find the perigynium to vary in length and breadth, the 
rostrum longer or shorter, but the often conspicuously hyaline 
orifice is pretty constant. The squamse also are generally as 
conspicuously hyaline at the margins, and without a mucro, 
though occasionally acuminate. Kunth could not have had clear 
conceptions of this plant, as the description he has given was 
from a Norwegian specimen, which must have been G. fuligmosa, 
St. and Hop., the only one of the group found in the north of 
Europe. 
The obtuse-angled smooth culm, and short bracts, separate the 
var. (3 from G. fimbriata, Schk. In its bifid orifice, scarcely at all 
hyaline, it differs from the typical form. The perigynium is 2-Jg— 
lin. long, lin. wide, rough with setae upwards. 
In the var. y the spiculse are occasionally more numerous, and 
the intermediate ones with a variable disposition of male florets 
on them; but the orifice of the perigynium, its form, the short 
bracts, and smooth obtuse-angled culm, agree with the typical 
form of G. sempervirens. 
Ledebour describes the perigynium as bidentate, but he adds, 
“ denticulis membrana alba subconvexis.” 
The specimens figured are,— 
n. 1. From the Pyrenees, from M. Spruce, on one of which 
the upper female spicula has male florets at base, 
n. 2. Yar. (3. Prom Bavaria, from Martius. 
522. C. tomentosa (Linn.); spica brevi purpurea 
grisea demum castaneo-straminea, e spiculis 2-3 clensi- 
floris contiguis vel subremotis, terminali mascula cylin- 
drica, fe mi neis 1-2 brevioribus, suprema rarius apice 
mascula, infima ssepe breve pedunculata cylinclracea; 
bractea infima auriculata vel brevissime vaginulata, cul- 
mum nunc sequante; stigmatibus 3 ; perigyniis turgide 
obovatis vel oblongis vix rostellatis, ore emarginato bi- 
dentato ciliato, densissime strigoso-hirtis enerviis ob¬ 
tuse vel obsolete trigonis divergentibus griseis demum 
stramineis spongiosis, squama ovata acuta vel cuspidata 
purpurea demum castanea medio late viridi latioribus 
longioribus.—C. tomentosa, Linn. Mcmt. 123; Wahl. 
