rough on the edges and midrib. Barren spike not ^ an inch
long, oblong, scarcely stalked. Fertile spikes 1—3, sessile,
contiguous, 3-4 lines long, ovoid. Glumes all very blunt,
oval, brown, with broad silvery edges, finely ciliate; midrib
not extending to the top. Lowest bract brown, scarcely
sheathing, with a short brown point. Perianth about 1 line
long, broadly obovate, trigonous, brownish when ripe,
minutely hairy; with a very short, round, truncate beak,
which is divided on one side down to its base. Nut nearly
globular, with a short beak supporting the style, with 3
slightly prominent slender ribs separating very convex faces.
This plant is exceedingly like C. pratcox in general appearance,
but may be at once known by attending to the shape
of the glumes, and their structure and ciliation. The perianth
and nut are also very different in shape, especially the latter,
which is not narrowed to the base, has not the prominent
ribs nor the cup-like ring that surround the base of the style
in C. pratcox. The C. ericetorum may be detected, when
growing in company with C. pratcox, by the silvery look
which the broad pale edges of the glumes give to the spikes.
This plant has, as yet, been only found on the slopes of a
Roman Road, locally called Wool Street, at about 4-| miles
from Cambridge. It there grows, intermixed with an abundance
of C.prcecox, in a very dry chalky soil. Unfortunately
that is one of the very few places now remaining on the chalk
hills of Cambridgeshire which have not been ploughed; and
even there, many interesting plants often suffer from the
removal of the turf by gardeners. The spot on which this
plant grew in 1861 has been now (1863) thus destroyed; but
other patches of it are found in the immediate neighbourhood,
from one of which the fruit figured was obtained by me on
June 23, 1863, and the flowering plant on the preceding
May 3.
This Car ex was gathered near the Wool Street by Mr. J.
Ball, F.L.S., and myself, in 1838, but remained undetected in
our cabinets until 1861, when my attention was^ directed to it
by Mr. Ball. It will probably soon be found in other parts
of England. On the Continent it inhabits dry and sandy
places.—C. C. B.