Mariscus.| CYPERACEZ. 767 
Norrs Istanp: Abundant in lowland districts throughout. SourTH ISLAND: 
Chiefly near the coast, extending as far south as Okarito (Hamilton) and 
northern Otago (Buchanan). Sea-level to 1500 ft. Toetoe-upoko-tangata ; 
Toetoe-whatu-manu. November—January. 
4. ELEOCHARIS, R. Br. 
Stems simple, erect, without perfect leaves. Sheaths few. the 
uppermost cylindric, truncate or produced on one side into a short 
tooth. Inflorescence a single terminal many-flowered terete spike- 
let. Glumes many, imbricate all round the rhachis; the lowest 
1 or 2 empty, shorter than the spikelet; many succeeding ones 
hermaphrodite and fruit-bearing; the. uppermost male or sterile. 
Hypogynous bristles usually 6, but varymg from 3 to 8, rarely 
absent. Stamens 3 or fewer. Style swollen at the base ; branches 
3 or 2, linear. Nut obovoid, trigonous or plano-convex. 
Species estimated at 115, distributed over the whole world, but most 
numerous in America. Of the 5 found in New Zealand, 2 are endemic, 2 extend 
to Australia, the remaining one is almost cosmopolitan. 
A. Limnochloa. Stem stout, spikelet large, hardly wider than the stem. 
Glumes subrigid. 
Stems stout, septate. Spikelet 1-2 in. long A .. 1. E. sphacelata, 
B. Eleogenus. Stem slender. Spikelets small, broader than the stem. 
Glumes membranous. Style 2-fid. 
Stems short, 1-24in. Spikelet 4-}in. .. et .. 2. H. neo-zealandica. 
C. Eu-Eleocharis. Stem slender. Spikelet small, broader than the stem 
Glumes membranous. Style 3-fid. 
Stems 2-6in., filiform. Spikelets 4-}in., compressed. 
Nut longitudinally ribbed and transversely striate .. 3. E. acicularis. 
Stems 4-18in., rather stout. Leaf-sheath truncate with 
an erect mucro. Spikeles }-$in. Nut smooth .. 4. EH. acuta. 
Stems 3-15 in., very slender. lLeaf-sheath oblique, acute. 
Spikelet 4-4io. Nut smooth ae ie .. 5. H. Cunninghamiu 
1. B. sphacelata, &. Br. Prodr. 224.—Rhizome stout, creeping, 
stoloniferous. Stems stout, cylindrical, 1-3 it. high, $in. diam., 
hollow, transversely septate ; sheaths long, membranous. Spikelet 
very large, 1-2 in. long, $in. diam., solitary, terminal, cylindrical, 
pale-coloured, tip acute. Glumes numerous, very closely imbricate, 
obovate-oblong, obtuse, l-nerved, membranous, pale with a brown 
line just inside the scarious margin. Hypogynous bristles 6-9, 
usually exceeding the nut, retrorsely scabrid. Style very long, 
branches 3. Nut broadly obovoid, compressed, minutely granular, 
pale, crowned with the persistent dark-brown conic swollen base 
of the style.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 277; Raoul, Choix, 40; Hook. f. 
Fil. Nov. Zel. i. 269; Handb. N.Z. Fil. 300; Benth. Fl. Austral. 
vii. 292 (Heleocharis). 
