sheathing the peduncles almost entirely. Fertile spikelets about 4, loose and slender. Glumes ovato-lanceolate, with a rough mucro, membranous, pale, with a central green stripe and prominent midrib, about one-third shorter than the fruit. Perigynium lanceolate, acutely triquetrous, the faces with 4-5 prominent ribs, green, without a beak, the orifice entire.

26 C. sylvatica, Huds. Pendulous Wood Carex. Sheaths onethird to one-half as long as the peduncles; fertile spikelets 4, remote, filiform, pedunculate, rather slender, slightly drooping; glumes ovate, acuminate, submucronate, nearly equalling the fruit; fruit erect; perigynium elliptical, obtusely triquetrous, tapering into a linear bifid beak, glabrous; nut obovato-elliptical, triquetrous, elevato-punctate. E. Bot. t. 995. E. Fl. v. iv. p. 96. Hook. Br. Fl. 4th ed. p. 341. Moist woods; not unfrequent. Fl. May, June. 4.

Welbach Coppice; Mr. T. Bodenham. Captain's Coppice, Coalbrookdale; Mr. F. Dickinson. Hadnall; Mr. E. Elsmere, junr.! Near Oswestry; Rev. E. Salwey.!

Shelton Wood, near Shrewsbury. Golden, near Pitchford. Cloud Coppice, near Berrington.

Root tufted, with stout fibres. Stem 2 feet high, erect, triangular, smooth, striated. Leaves narrow, linear, acute, rough on the upper surface, edges, keel and ribs. Bracteas leafy, sheathing the peduncle about one-third upwards. Fertile spikelets 4, loose and slender. Glumes ovate, acuminate, submucronate, brownish, membranous, with a strong rib, nearly as long as the fruit. Perigynium elliptical, obtusely triquetrous, acuminated into a long linear beak slightly rough at the edge, deeply cleft, smooth and without ribs except the 2 prominent marginal ones.

27. C. pendula, Huds, Great pendulous Carex. Sheaths elongated, nearly equal to the peduncles; fertile spikelets about 6, cylindrical, very long, pendulous; glumes ovate, mucronate, shorter than the fruit; fruit spreading and recurved at the beak; perigynium substipitate, ellipsoid, subtriquetrous, tumid, ribbed, acuminated into a short bifid decurved beak; nut elliptical, attenuated at both ends, triquetrous, minutely granulated. E. Bot. t. 2315. E. Fl. v. iv. p.

95. Hook. Br. Fl. 4th ed. p. 341.

Moist wooded and shady places; not common. Fl. May, June. 4.

In the Birch Coppice near Buildwas. By the side of several rills between Leighton and Buildwas. Near Coalport Turnpike; Rev. E. Williams's MSS. Wood between Buildwas Inn and the Birches, Coalbrookdale; T. and D. Bot, Guide. Old Brook Wood, near Coalbrookdale; Mr. F. Dickinson.

Benthal Edge. Lyd Hole, near Pontesford Hill. Woods by the roadside between Much Wenlock and Buildwas Bridge.

Root tufted, with many long stout fibres. Stem 5-6 feet high, erect, gracefully drooping in the upper part, triquetrous, smooth, striated. Leaves very long, recurved, linear, acute, deeply longitudinally channelled above, half of the limb recurved on each side of the midrib, roughish, bright green and shining above, paler and glaucous beneath, midrib rough, margins minutely serrulate, with long close sheaths at the base, which in the upper leaves are about half the length of the leaves. Barren spikelet solitary, terminal. Fertile spikelets about 6, on triquetrous rough peduncles a little longer than the sheaths by which they are enclosed, 3-4 inches long, cylindrical, clavate, gradually thickening towards the extremity, lax at the base, gracefully and elegantly pendulous. Glumes shorter than the fruit, ovate, mucronate, somewhat membranous at the margins, of a deep chocolate colour, with a broad green keel. Fruit spreading and decurved at the beak.

Perigynium ellipsoid, somewhat triquetrous, tumid, with a short bifid beak whose lobes are minutely notched, having 3 ribs on the upper tumid side and one central rib on the inner or plane surface, with 2 ribs on the margins. Nut elliptical, slightly tapering at the base and apex, triquetrous, minutely granulated.

The largest and by far the most elegant of our native Carices.

28. C. Pseudo-Cyperus, Linn. Cyperus-like Carex. Sheaths scarcely any; fertile spikelets on long slender peduncles, cylindrical, pendulous; bracteas large, very foliaceous; glumes setaceous, dilated and membranous at the base, 3-nerved, serrulate at the edges, as long as the fruit; fruit spreading horizontally; perigynium stipitate, ovato-lanceolate, very much acuminated into a bicuspidate smooth beak, slightly rough-edged, pale, smooth and ribbed; nut narrowly elliptical, triquetrous, minutely granulated. E. Bot. t. 242. E. Fl. v. iv. p. 101. Hook. Br. Fl. 4th ed. p. 341.

Margins of rivers and ponds; not common. Fl. June. 24.

Ponds and ditches about Golden and Sundorn. Mare pool, near Shrewsbury. Between Battlefield and Shrewsbury; Hancott pool; Rev. E. Williams's MSS. Snowdon pool; H. Bidwell, Esq. Hampton's Bank, near Ellesmere, in low ground by the Canal; Mr. F. Dickinson. Hadnall; Mr. E. Elsmere, junr. Oakley Park, near Ludlow; Miss Mc. Ghie. Maesbury marsh, near Oswestry; Rev. T. Salwey.!

Canal between Shrewsbury and Uffington. Bomere pool. Hancott pool. Battlefield. Pit between Battlefield and Albright Hussee. Mare pool.

Well distinguished by its size, bright green colour and elegantly pendulous spikelets. Root tufted, fibrous. Stem 2 feet high, acutely triangular, rough at the edges above, leafy. Leaves very broad, acute, scabrous above and at the edges, smooth beneath, with a smooth acute keel. Bracteas similar and nearly as large as the leaves. Fertile spikelets 3-4, long, with numerous flowers, elegantly pendulous, on rough trigonous slender peduncles.

Sheaths short,

29. C. recurva, Huds. Glaucous Heath Carex. scarcely any; bracteas leafy, auricled at the base; fertile spikelets cylindrical, scarcely drooping, densely imbricated, on long slender peduncles; glumes ovate, acute, nearly equal to the fruit; fruit erecto-patent; perigynium obovato-globose, slightly downy, entire at the small point; nut rotundo-obovate, triquetrous, minutely elevatopunctate. E. Bot. t. 1506. E. Fl. v. iv. p. 114. Hook. Br. Fl. 4th ed. p. 342.

Moist meadows, clayey pastures, and wet barren heathy ground; common. Fl. May, June. 2.

Root creeping, sheathed with purplish-brown scales. Stems about 1 foot high, obsoletely trigonous. Leaves chiefly radical, partially recurved, very glaucous, much resembling the foliage of pinks. Fertile spikelets 2, often 3. Barren spikelet generally solitary, sometimes accompanied by a smaller one and the upper portion of the upper fertile spikelets frequently consisting of barren florets. Bracteas leafy, lowermost very long, their sheaths very short, crowned with rounded brown auricles. Fruit closely placed, erecto-patent. Perigynium brownish when ripe, minutely dotted or tuberculated and with minute short bristly hairs or pubescence. Glumes ovate, about as broad and long as the fruit, acute, of a chocolate colour with a green rib.

Varieties occur in which the sheath of the lower fertile spikelet is more elongated and the peduncle very long; the barren spikelet either solitary and the

fertile spikelets entirely fertile; or, with 4 barren spikelets and the upper portion of the fertile spikelets consisting also of barren florets. In all these variations there does not appear any available difference in the fruit, which in all is of the same shape and downy as in the common state.

++ Fruit downy.

Fertile spikelets sessile.

30. C. præcox, Jacq. Vernal Carex. Sheaths short, scarcely any, equal to the peduncles; fertile spikelets 2, oblong, approximate; glumes broadly ovate, acuminate, as long as the fruit; fruit erect; perigynium rhomboideo-obovate, compressed, subtriquetrous, downy, without ribs, orifice abrupt entire spinulose; nut obovate, attenuated below, triquetrous, minutely dotted. E. Bot. t. 1099. E.

Fl. v. iv. p. 111. Hook. Br. Fl. 4th ed. p. 342.

Dry pastures and heaths; common, Fl. April, May. 4.

Root creeping. Stem 4-8 inches high, erect, triangular, smooth, leafy at the base only. Leaves forming close tufts, short, spreading or recurved, acute, flattish, rough on the edges points and ribs. Upper bracteas very short; lower one as long or longer than its spikelet, erect, dilated and 3-nerved at the base, acuminated with a setaceous leafy point, minutely serrulate at the margins, arising from short and abrupt sheaths dilated upwards, and about equal to the short peduncles. Fertile spikelets generally 2, approximate, erect, elliptico-oblong, dense, but not many-flowered. Glumes broadly ovate, acuminate, often mucronate, brown and membranous, with a green rib. Barren spikelet solitary. Anthers numerous, bright yellow, rendering it conspicuous at an early season of the year. Perigynium without ribs except the 2 obscure marginal ones. Nut with a circular protuberance or rugosity around the base of the style corresponding with the position of the orifice of the perigynium.

31. C. pilulifera, Linn. Round-headed Carex. Sheaths none; bracteas small, subfoliaceous; fertile spikelets 2-3, sessile, roundish, approximate; glumes broadly ovate, strongly mucronate, as long as the fruit; fruit erecto-patent; perigynium stipitate, obovato-globose, pubescent, with 2 marginal ribs and a short bifid beak; nut obovatoglobose, scarcely triquetrous, very minutely granulated. E. Bot. t. 885. E. Fl. v. iv. p. 112. Hook. Br. Fl. 4th ed. p. 342. C. montana, Linn.

Hills and moory grounds; not uncommon. Fl. June. 4.

By the side of Shomere pool and under Harmer Hill. Battlefield woods; Rev. E. Williams's MSS.

Haughmond Hill. Pimhill. Shawbury Heath.

Readily distinguished by the almost spherical fertile spikelets and pubescent fruit. Root shaggy, fibrous, tufted. Stems 6-12 inches high, acutely trigonous, slender, weak, curved, mostly recumbent, naked, striated, roughish. Leaves chiefly radical, tufted, pliant, grassy, long and narrow, but shorter than the stem, striated, channelled and scabrous above and at the edges, smooth and keeled beneath. Bracteas subulate, scabrous, the lower one only rising above its spikelet, all quite destitute of sheaths. Perigynium green, with a brown beak. Glumes brownish, with a green nerve. Nut brown with prominent paler ribs on the obscure angles.