260 



NOTE? FROM THE BOTANIC GARDENS, SYDNEY. 

 Bv A. A. Hajiiltox, Botanical A-ssistaxt. 



SciEPUs scpixus L. 



Conteunial Park (A. A. Hamilton, 2, 191(i.) — a new habitat for a species 

 apparently rare in iliis State. The only specific locality recorde'l for this jilant 

 in New South Wales is Nepean River (Coll. R.Br.).* Australian forms of this 

 species are represented in the National Herbarium, Sydney, by specimens from 

 the British Museum under Isolepis supina R.Br. (Coll. Banks and Solander, New 

 Holland, 1770) and Lake Albert. Victoria, a locality given by Bentham, loc. cit. 

 There is also an example without collector's name, locality, or date. The speci- 

 mens now recorded agree with those collected by Banks and Solander in all the 

 important characters, differing only in the leng^th of the invohicral bract, which 

 does not exceed the measurement (2 inches) given by Bentham. In some of the 

 Banks-Solander specimens — which were probably collected at the Endeavour 

 River — it attains a length of 15 cm. The Victorian specimens are diminutive, 

 !.) — 8 cm. high, with slightly llexuose stems. An examination of the exotic her- 

 barivun material disclosed considerable variation in the leng-th of the invohicral 

 bract. It appears to be an exceptionally variable species, as, according to the 

 descriptions given in the works consulted, it is found to vary greatly in such im- 

 portant characters as the shape of the fruits, number of style branches, and the 

 presence or absence of rudimentary sepals or petals; and is usually (juoted as 

 an exception in the section in which it has, for convenience, been placed. Ex- 

 amples with biconvex fruits and 2-style branches, and others with triangular fruits 

 and 3-style branches were noted throughout the series. In sexeral European 

 specimens the lamina of the leaf sheath is occasionally produced to a length of 

 3—5 cm. 



• SCHOENUS MOOREI Benth. 



Moore and Betehef i)laced S. Moorci systematically in a group with smooth 

 fruits. This is misleading, as an examination of the fruits througliout a series of 

 specimens from various localities shows them to be prominently transversely 

 rugose. The character of smooth as opposed to rugose or tuberculate fruits is an 

 important factor in the determination of members of this genus, liut in tliis par- 

 ticular species Benthamt has omitted to mention this feature, tliouyh he refers to 

 both the shape and ribbing of the fruit. 



•Fl. Austr., vii.. 1878, 330. 

 tH'book J'l. N.S.Wales, 1893, p.458. 

 :A.r.,p.367. 



