158 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



to the numbers indicated by Bceckeler. This variety is remarkable for the great number 

 of flowers in the larger spikelets, surpassing all the others in this respect. As to the 

 number of stamens, there are sometimes only two, and probably also sometimes only one in 

 the imperfectly developed spikelets ; but in the larger spikelets, such as figure 9 represents, 

 we found the number of three to predominate. The nuts we found were imperfect, though 

 not remarkably small. The style was very deeply divided in the flowers examined. 



Scirpus thouarsianus, Schult., var. pattescens, Hemsl. (Plate XXXIII. A, figs. 1-6.) 



Scirpus thouarsianus, Schult., var. paMescens, Hemsl. 



Scirpus pallescens, Boeckeler in litt., fide D. Oliver in Herb. Kew. 



Nightingale Island. — Endemic. Mosdey. 



Bceckeler does not appear to have published any description of this form, which is 

 remarkable for its coarse almost wholly barren culms. Where there are spikelets, there is 

 always prolification. The blade of the leaf bears about the same proportion to the sheath 

 as it does in Scirpus virens ; the glumes are somewhat thicker, and the few flowers 

 found were diandrous, with the style scarcely divided to the middle. A comparison of the 

 analyses of the flowers of this and Scirpus virens suggests the question ; — Does the basal 

 part of the style elongate after the stage represented by figure 11 ? The filaments 

 certainly do. The small nut is very minutely reticulated, but not so prominently as 

 in fig. G, whereas that of Scirpus virens (fig. 12) appeared to be quite smooth; both 

 were empty and imperfect, and the shapes given in the drawings were taken from single 

 nuts in the condition indicated. 



Scirpus oliveri, Boeckeler. (Plate XXXIV. A, figs. 1-7). 

 Scirpus oliveri, Boeckeler in Flora, 1875, p. 260. 



Inaccessible Island. — Endemic. Mosdey. 



This very slender species has strongly keeled glumes, not unlike those of Scirpus 

 sulcatus ; but it is quite distinct in its long setaceous acute leaves and bracts, &c. Boeckeler 

 describes the flowers as monandrous, while those we examined were triandrous ; doubtless 

 the number of stamens varies in this as in the others. 



Scirpus sp. 



Scirpus aucklandicus, Boeckeler in litt, vix Isoh:pis aurlrfantlka, Hook. f. 



Tristan da Cunha. — Endemic 1 Milne and MacGillivray ; Mosdey. 



The general appearance of this is that of Scirpus setaceus, from which, however, it is 

 very distinct. On the other hand, it looks equally distinct from the original Isolepis auck- 

 landica, but not being able to study carefully all the southern Seirpi of this group, we 

 will not venture to give it a new name. 



