474 Carex bigelowii Torr.

Syn.: C. rigida Good.

This variable species is widely distributed in the arctic and montane regions of Eurasia and N. America. For taxonomy and nomenclature, see Hultén, Circumpol. 1; p. 50, and Fl. Eur. 5/1980, p. 320 and literature cited there. The name C. rigida Good. has been confined to the C. and W. European population (subsp. rigida Schultze-Motel according to Fl. Eur., I. cit.). The population in E. Siberia and northwestern N. America has been distinguished as C. consimilis Holm. C. bigelowii s. lat. belongs to the circumpolar plants (Hultén, op. cit., p. 50 and map 43).