768 CYPERACE. [Hleocharis. 
NortH Istanp: Wet swamps and margins of lakes, not uncommon. 
SoutH Isnanp: Nelson—Takaka, Kirk! Canterbury, Armstrong. Westland— 
Okarito, A. Hamilton! Southland—Bluff Island, Lyal/. Srewarr Isntanp: 
Head of Paterson’s Inlet, Petrie! Sea-level to 1500 ft. December— 
February. 
An abundant Australian and Tasmanian plant, and very oe allied to 
the widely diffused H. plantaginea, R. Br. 
2. EB. neo-zealandica, C. B. Clarke ex T. Kirk mn Trans. N.Z. 
Inst. xxvi. (1894) 260.—Rhizome slender, creeping, 1-3 in. long. 
Stems short, 1-24in. high, striate ; 5 membranous, mouth 
oblique. Spikelet solitary, terminal, 4-1+in. long, broadly ovoid, 
much wider than the stem, 4—-8- flowered. Glumes broadly ovate, 
concave, obtuse, red-brown with a paler centre and scarious mar- 
gins. Hypogynous bristles wanting. Stamens 3. Style with 2 
linear arms and a very small swollen base. Nut obovoid, biconvex, 
smooth, pale-brown. 
Nortu Isuanp: Auckland—Sand-dunes between Cape Maria van Diemen 
and Ahipara, 7. #. C. Souru Istanp: Nelson—Cape Farewell, Kirk ! 
A curious little species, belonging to the section Hleogenus, characterized by 
the spikelets broader than the slender stems, membranous glumes, and 2-fid 
style. Mr. Clarke remarks that it approaches the section Isolepis of Scirpus in 
the absence of hypogynous bristles and the reduced size of the swollen base of 
the style. 
3. HE. acicularis, . Br. Prodr. 224.—Rhizome very slender, 
almost filiform, creeping, stoloniferous. Stems numerous, tufted, 
extremely slender, capillary, 2-6in. high; sheaths membranous. 
acute. Spikelet small, slender, $—} in. “long, compressed, pale to 
dark-brown. 3-—6-flowered. Glumes ovate, obtuse, membranous, 
brown with a greenish or pale centre and narrow scarious margins. 
Hypogynous bristles 2-4, short, deciduous. Style-branches 3; 
style-base small, conic, depressed. Nut small, pale, obovoid-oblong, 
longitudinally ribbed and with minute transverse striz# between 
the ribs.— Kunth, Enum. ii. 141; C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. 
Ind. vi. 628. 
SourH Is~tanp: Otago—Lake Te Anau, Petrie! (No. 1647). 
I have seen no specimens but Mr. Petrie’s, which are in young flower only. 
Mr. C. B. Clarke, who has examined them, states that he is satisfied that they 
belong to the small group consisting of EH. acicularis and a few very closely 
allied species, and most probably to E. acicularis itself, which is an almost 
cosmopolitan plant, although not yet recorded from Australia. 
4. HE. acuta, &. Br. Prodr. 224.—Rhizome creeping. Stems 
numerous, tufted, 4-18in. high, rather stout or slender, striate ; 
sheath closely appressed to the stem, with a horizontally truncate 
mouth, the margin of which is thickened and usually dark-coloured, 
with a small erect mucro or rudimentary lamina on one side. 
