h i
[Cyperaceoe.
a n d Solander, Sinclair,
2 8 0 FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND.
H ab, N o rth e rn Islan d j salt an d fresh marshes, etc. ; Bay of Islands,
etc.
A rigid, wii-y, rush-like species, 1 -2 feet high. Roots tufted and creeping. Culms smooth, cylhidric, leafless.
Sheaths with long tubes, oblique mouths, and short, curved, erect, laterally flattened, blunt leaflets. Rankle small,
of a few short branches, with appressed, sessile, one-flowered spikelets in alternate pairs, surrounded by hnear, rather
blunt, striated spathes. Scales liuear-oblong, hardly sharp.—This also is a Tasmanian and Australian plant ; the
rush-like habit, small panicle, and curious compressed little leaf of the sheaths distinguish it.
Gen. XY. CAREX, L , F . Bo o tt, M .D ., F .L .S .)
Flores diclines, amentacei; squamis unifloris, und iq u e imbricatis. F l. ¿ stamina 3. ? in eodem
V. diverso amento. P e ria n th ium (perigynium) ujceolare ; ore contracto, sæpe rostrato, integro v. bifido.
Stigmata 2 - 3 . N u x periantliio persistente inclusa.
Tufted, grassy plants, with short or tall, generally triangular culms, and long harsh leaves, often cutting at
the edges; seldom or never eaten by cattle, however similar to those of Grasses. The genus is one of the most
extensive amongst plants, and the species are found in all parts of the world, but rarely in the low countries of the
Tropics, and most abundantly in cold regions.—Flowei's unisexual, solitaiy in the axils of imbricated scales, which
are armnged in long or short spikes. Spikes male or female, or containing both male and female flowers, never
irregularly mixed, the flowers of each sex being together at the top, base, or middle of each spike ; generally the
upper spikes are males. Male flower of three stamens ; female of a nut with two or thi*ee stigmas enclosed in a
flagon-shaped perianth with a narrow mouth, through which the stigmas project.—Dr. Boott has had the kindness to
examine and furnish me with descriptions of aU the southern Carices, and his accuracy, skül in their determination,
aud critical knowledge of the genus are umivalled. He made the very curious remark that half the number of
New Zealand species have male flowers at the base of those spikes which are almost always, in the similar species of
other parts of the globe, wholly female spikes, or female with male flowers at the top. Several New Zealand
species, it will be seen, are common to New Zealand, Antarctic America, and Australia. Three are European and
American, but are not found in Australia. (Name of unknown origin.)
§ a. Spike simple, with male flowers towards the top. Stigmas generaUy three.
1. Carex Pyrenaica, W a h l ; spica apice mascula oblonga feiTuginea n u d a v. bracteata, stigmatibus
3 rarissime 2, p e rig jn iis lanceolatis emarginatis ore albo membranaceo compressis enerviis stipitatis basi
pallidis squama ovata acuta v. obtusa longioribus angustioribusque.— Boott, M S S .
H ab. N o rth e rn Is la n d ; summit of th e R uahine mountains, Colenso.
A small, grassy, tufted plant, 6 inches high, found in Europe and in the Rocky Mountains of North America.
— Leaves twice as long as the culm, which bears a pale, red-brown, linear, oblong, shming spike iuch long.
Stigmas three, rai'ely two.
2. Carex acicularis, Bo o tt ; spica apice mascula subrotunda involucrata, stigmatibus 3, perigyniis
lauceolatis 3-quetris acuminato rostratis ore obliquo demum fisso superne serratis stipitatis squama ovato-
lanceolata acuta (inferioribus 2 vel 3 setaceo-foliaceis) multum brevioribus vel (ad apicem spicæ) earn
æq uantibus.— Boott, M S S . (Tab. L X I I I . C.)
H ab. N o rth e rn Is la n d ; to p of th e Ruahine mountains, Colenso.
A small, wiry, rigid species, 4 -6 inches high, with narrow channelled curving leaves, as long as or longer than
the filiform culm. Spike broad, pale brown, ^ inch long and as broad, apparently lateral, from the lowest scale being
produced much beyond it ; sometimes an inch long ; the two or three lower scales are usually foUaceous, lengthened
aud subulate. Male flowers four to six, imbricate, blunt ; females about six. Perigynium 2 lines long, i line
FLOEA Cyperaceoe.] OF NEW ZEALAND. 2 8 1
broad. Achenium oblong, triquetrous, shorter than tbe flat linear seiTate raclieola, which is green, ferruginous at the
tip.—Allied to a caduca, Boott, of Euegia, which differs in having two stigmas, compressed perigynia, a lenticular
achenium. and shorter lower scales.—P la t e LX III. C. Eig. 1 . spike with the lower scale removed; 2 , perigj'-
nium ; 3 , achenium :—all i.
§ b. Spike
3. Carex in v en a , B r. ; spicuHs 2 - 3 (rarius 1) androgynis basi masculis obovatis arcte^ contiguis
pallidis longe bracteatis, perigyniis ovalibus ro stratis bid en tatis superne margine acutis serratis nervosis
appressis squamam ovatam acuminatam cuspidatam subæquantibus, stigmatibus 2. Boott, M S S . Brown,
Prodr.
H ab. N o rth e rn Is la n d s ; Rualiine mountains, an d marshes on th e E a s t Coast, Colenso.
A veiy slender species, with smooth filiform culms 6-9 inches long, and very n a iT o w leaves.^ Brack unequal,
the lowest often 2 -4 inches long. Spiielets one to three, crowded, pale, broadly ovate.—This is also a native of
Australia and of Tasmama.
3. Carex Colensoi, H o o tt; spiculis 2 - 4 androgynis basi mascuHs ovaHbus arete contiguis sessUibns
albo-eastaneis infima (v. 2) brevi bracteata, perigyniis ovalibus ovatisve erostratis lucidis castaneis obsolete
nervatis squama ovata castanea mai'gine albo-membranacea nervo palHdo brevioribus an g u stio n b u sq u e ,
stigmatibus 2. B oott, M S S . (Tab. L X I I I . B .)
H ab. N o rth e rn I s la n d ; dry grassy plains in th e in terio r, Colenso.
Similar to C. inversa, but a more wiry plant, with larger, more coriaceous, brown spikelets, and shmmg chesnut
oval perigynia, tbat have no beak, and indistinct nerves. Oulms 3 -9 inches long, angles obtuse, often flexuose,
smooth or rough above, leaves involute, shorter than the culm, wiry. Bracts oue or two. the lower nearly 1 inch
long. Spikelets turgid, 3 -4 lines long, H - 2 hroad.-PLATE LX III. B . Fig. 1, spikelet ; 2. perigynium ; 3, ache-
nium :—all'magnifled.
5. Carex a fÆ to f e , Good. ; spiculis 3 - 4 androgynis basi masculis paucifloris alternis nudis suprema
basi clavata rnascula, perigyuiis ovatis acummatis bidentatis margine serratis nervosis divaricatis squama
ovata acuta longioribus, stigmatibus 2. B oott, M S S . Bngl. B o t. t. 806.
H ae. N o rth e rn I s la n d ; in bogs a t Lak e Taupo, Colenso. (Native of En g lan d .)
A very common British plant, a native of boggy places throughout temperate Europe, Asia, and North America.
Oulms a span to a foot high, very slender, with short brown spikelets, forming an interrupted ovate spike * -1 inch
long, which appears squarrose from the spreading perigynia. Spikelets few-flowered, without bracts.
** Spikelets with male flowers at the top.
0. Carex teretiuscula. G o o d .; spica oblonga subpoUicari n u d a v. b racteata e spiculis androgynis
apice masculis paucis ovatis sessilibus contiguis composita, perigyniis ovatis conico-rostratis b id en tatis su perne
alatis serratis plano-convexis dorso nervatis squamaiii acutam subæquantibus, stigmatibus 2. Boott,
M S S . Engl. Bo t. t. 1065.
I I ab. N o rth e rn Is la n d ; in bogs a t Hawke’s Bay, Colenso. (Native of England.)
This, like 0. stellulata, is also a commou plant ot the north temperate zone, but has only been found in New
Zealand i’n the southern hemisphere. Culms very slender, a span to 2 feet high, bearing a terminal, rather dense,
linear oblong spike, of a few crowded spikelets, whose perigynia spread as in 0. stellulata.
7. Carex secta, B o o tt; spica androgyna apice mascula elongata sæpe subsesquipedaU decomposita
basi ramosa, ramis apertis, inferioribus elongatis superne ta n tum spiculiferis sæpe n u tan tib u s , perigyniis
3 A