' f’a
H
H ab. No rlh e rn and Middle Islan d s ; ab u n d an t in woods, B a n h a n d Solander, etc.
A tall, coarse, leafy Sedge, 3 feet high and upwards. Owlma stout, leafy ; sheaths slightly rough to the touch.
Leaves very loug, flat or with convolute margins, smooth, ending in very slender filifonn points. Panicle erect,
10-18 inches long, much branched and leafy. Brandies uot very long, inclined. Spikelets alternate, pedicelled.
Bracteolæ and outer scales ovate, aristate. with membranous margins, often downy. Nu t black, elliptic-ovate,
obscurely trigonous, slightly transversely ribbed inside, suspended by the very long filaments,—Tbe ribbing inside
the nut indicates an approach to Gahnia.
4. Lampocarya xanthoearpa, Hook, fil.; culmo te re ti elato robusto foliisque longissimis convolutis
lævibus striatis, panicula maxima effusa incUnata, ramis elongatis pendulis multifloris, bracteis foliaceis,
spiculis subalternis puberuKs, bracteoHs squamisque extimis aristatis intimis acutis, filamentis longissimis,
nuce eUiptica u trin q u e acuta paUide flava trigona nucleo obscure rugoso.— Schcenus xanthocarpus. Bank s
et Sol. M S S .
H ab. N o rth e rn I s la n d ; E a st Coast, B a n h and Solander, Colenso; Auckland, Sinclair.
A very fine species, 6-8 feet bigh, witb a stout polished culm, and very long, quite smooth, grassy, coriaceous
leaves. Panicle 3-3 feet long, nodding, witb leaiy bracts. Brandies very numerous, fascicled, 10 inches long,
drooping, bearing very mimerons spikelets. Scales, Stamens, ete. like those of L. lacera.
Gen. X I I I . G A H N IA , Forst.
Omnia
U l l
sed nuce in tu s transverse sulcata.
This Australian and New Zealand genus is known from Lampocarya, by the nut being wrinkled or grooved
transversely mside, and the seed being correspondingly cut into paraUel transverse ridges. The filaments are four
in the New Zealand species, very much elongated. Stigmas three, or four, in which case one is bifid. L. lacera
has the cavity of the nut partially wrinkled, and should perhaps be placed here, but the seed in my specimens is
uimpe. (Named in honour of B r. Henry Gahn, a Swedish botanist.)
1. Gahnia setifolia. Hook, fib ; cuhno te reti graciU sublævi, foliis convolutis longissime subulatis
asperulis apicibus filiformibus, panicula elongata gracüi laxiflora, ramis elongatis, bracteis exterioribus
subulatis ramis paUidis brevioribus, spiculis alternis atris breve pedicellatis, bracteolis spiculis brevioribus
squamisque extimis puberuKs aristatis intermediis acuminatis supremis subobtusis, filamentis 4 capillaribus,
stigmatibus 3 - 4 , n uce rufa elliptica n itid a subtrigona apice cuspidata atra.— Lampocarya ? A . Eich. Flor.
Schcenus erythrocarpus. Ba n k s et Sol. MS S .
H ab. N o rth e rn Is la n d ; common in woods, etc.. B a n k s and Solander, ete.
A very coarse, cutting, harsh Sedge, 2 -4 feet high, with smooth round culm and long subulate convolute
leaves, ending in scabrous fliiform points. Panicle 1 -3 feet long, slender, inclined, leafy below. Branches pale,
contrasting with the black spikelets, slender, much longer than the upper bracts. Spikelets alternate, 2-3 lines long,
shortly pedicelled. Outer scales and bracts faintly downy, awned; inner scales acuminate, upper blunt ; two of the
latter often have flowers; the lower with four filaments only, upper with four stamens, and an ovarium with three or
four stigmas. N u t as long as the spikelets, pale red-brown, shining, obscurely angled, grooved on one side,
eUiptioal, with a black point.—Very nearly aUied to G. erythroearpa of Tasmania, but the bracteæ and scales have’
long awns in this species.
2. Gahnia procera, F o rst. ; culmo lævi, fohis longissimis basi lævibus supra medium scaberulis, panicula
elongata gracili laxiflora, bracteis fiKformibns elongatis, ramis apicem versus floriferis, spiculis paucis
magnis pedicellatis hracteoHsque aristatis atro-purpureis, squamis paucis latis extimis aristatis spiculam
superautibus, filamentis 4, stigmatibus 3 - 4 bifidis, nuce pallide b runnea.— Forst. Prodr.
H ab. Middle I s la n d ; Dusky Bay, Forster ; P o r t Preservation, l y a l l .
A very fine species, 3 -4 feet high. Leaves longer than tbe culms, smooth below, scabrid above, with scabrid
filiform apices. Panide as in the last, but with fewer shorter branches, longer foliaceous bracts, and fewer, much
larger spikelets, nearly i inch long, of a fine vinous-purple colour. Seales few, not so convolute as is usual in the
genus, outer longer than the spikelet. Filaments four, very long. N u t pale brown, scarcely shm in g ,-T h e size
of the spikelets at once distinguishes this very handsome species.
Gen. X IY . L E P ID O S P E RM A , B r .
Spiculæ l-2 -ü o ræ . Squamæ plurimæ, undique imbricatæ. Squamulæ hypogynæ 6, connatæ, camosæ
V . membranaceæ. Stamina e t stigmata 3. N u x obsolete triq u e tra , stylo basi spbacelato acuminata, v .
obtusa.
Coarse and often gigantic Sedges, with simple, unbranched, flat or angled culms, and usuaUy sword-shaped
cutting foliage at the base; natives chiefly of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.— Flowers panicled or spiked,
of the same structure as Cladium, except th a t there are smaU membranous or fleshy scales round the base of the
nut, which are more or less united together and to the nut. (Name from AeTrtç, a scale, and cnrepfxa, a seed.)
1. Lepidosperma australis. Hook, fil.; culmis cæspitosis glaberrimis compressis 3 -4 -g o n is striatis,
foliis 3 -4 -g o n is rigidis subulatis erectis, spiculis in capitulum oblongum eonfertis, bracteis vaginantibus,
bracteolis mucronatis s tria tis, squamis 6 - 8 acuminatis, squamulis hypogynis 6 connatis nuce adnatis.
Y au tb iera australis, A . R ich . F lo r .p . 107. t. 2 0 . A . Cwm. Prodr.
H ab. N o rth e rn and Middle Islan d s ; common on banks of lakes, etc.
A tufted, rigid, almost leafless, rush-like Sedge. Culms 1 - 1 | foot high, quite smooth, irregularly 3-4-angIed,
striated, compressed or square, angles sharp. Sheaths with rigid subulate 3-4-angled erect leaves, 2 -8 inches long.
Spikelets crowded, spiked or fascicled, pale brown, forming a terminal short oblong capitulum 4 inch long. Bract
shortly sheathing, with a subulate erect point. Bracteolæ mucronate, striate; scales 6 -8 , acuminate, terminal with
one flower. Stamens and stigmas tluee. Hypogynous scales six, connate into a six-lobed cup, which is persistent
on the ripe nut.
2. Lepidosperma longitudinalis, L ab . ; culmis planis u trin q u e convexiusculis foliisque acuminatis
complanatis marginibus acutissimis minutissime denticulatis, panicula te rmina li b ra c te a ta co n tracta pauc iflora,
spiculis 1-floris subfasciculatis breve pedicellatis, fasciculis b ractea la te ovata æquilouga a ristata
acuminata snffnltis, squamis aristatis pubenflis, nuce obovata apice bulbo crasso læ ti te rmin a ta basi squamulis
adnatis obscuris suffulta.— i a i ï f t i F l. N H o ll. v. 1. p . 1 6 . 1 .13. B r . Prodr. Lepidosperma elatior,
A . Cunn. Prodr. non B r .
H ab. N o rth e rn Is lan d ; Ray of Islan d s, A . Cimningham, etc. j Auckland, Sinclair.
Culm leafless, except at the veiy base, 1 -3 feet high, quite flat and tape-like, 2 -3 lines broad, ivith cutting
denticulate edges. Leaf similar, acuminate. Panicle erect, rigid, 3-3 inches long, of few branches, with an acute
spathaceous bract at the base. Spikelets few, one-flowered, short, scattered in little appressed fascicles of two or
three, surrounded by an awned bract. Scales puberulous, with awned or subulate points, rough at the back.
Stamens three ; filaments not elongated in fruit. Half-ripe nut with a very large swollen polished bulb, broader
than itself, and adnate scales at the base.—My specimens are uot good, but appear to be the same as a very common
Tasmanian plant, and Sieber’s L. lineans (Herb. Exsicc. n. 9).
3. Lepidosperma striata, Br. ; culmo te re ti exsulco vaginato, vaginis elongatis, foliolo brevissimo
obcompresso verticali, panicula spicæformi, spiculis subsessilibus subgemiuis spatha obtusa inclusis l-fio ris,
ovario trigono apice bulboso incrassato pubcrulo.— R r. Prodr. Schoenus unguiculatus, B a n h et Sol. MS S .