Scirpus. ] CYPERACES, 1719 
Var. macrostachya, Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. vy. 32.—Umbels simple or 
compound. Spikelets large, sometimes over lin. long. Style-branches almost 
always 2. Nut large, broadly obovoid, flat on one side and obscurely angled on 
oo other, white or pale-brown, opaque, not imager —Asa Gray, Man. Bot. 
S. 500. 
Norru anp SourH IsuAnps: The two varieties not uncommon in brackish- 
water swamps and on the banks of lakes and streams from the North Cape to 
Otago Harbour. November-February. 
In the North Island var. fluviatilis extends inland along most of the larger 
rivers, ascending the Waikato as far as Lake Taupo. Var. macrostachya seems 
to be chiefly found in brackish-water swamps. Both varieties are abundant in 
North America, and also in Australia and Tasmania. According to Mr. C. B. 
Clarke, the typical form of the species has not yet been observed in either 
Australia or New Zealand. 
7. CARPHA, RB. Br. 
Perennial herbs. Leaves crowded at the base of the stem, 
usually shorter than it. Spikelets numerous, narrow, 1-flowered, 
arranged in a terminal corymb or panicle, sometimes contracted 
into a more or less dense head. Glumes usually 4, distichous; the 
2 lowest small, empty ; the third large, also empty; the uppermost 
about the same size, with a single hermaphrodite flower in its axil. 
Hypogynous bristles 6, plumose, much enlarged in fruit and exceed- 
ing the glumes. Stamens 3. Style- branches 3. Nut oblong, 
3-angled, narrowed above into the persistent and hardened base of 
the style. 
In addition to the New Zealand species, which is also found in Tasmania, 
Victoria, and on the mountains of New Guinea, there is another closely allied 
one in Chili and Fuegia. 
1. C. alpina, &. Br. Prodr. 230.—A tufted grass-like herb 
3-12in. high. Leaves usually shorter than the stems, numerous, 
narrow-linear, rigid, obtuse at the tip, flat or concave, grooved, 
dilated at the base into broad membranous sheaths. Spikelets 
4-41in. long, lanceolate, compressed, arranged in a corymbose 
manner at the top of the stem, in small specimens crowded into a 
head. Bracts leafy, usually exceeding the inflorescence. Glumes 
rigidly membranous, linear-oblong, pale, shining, concave. Hypogy- 
nous bristles very large, in the fruiting stage exceeding the glumes, 
conspicuously plumose for their whole length. Nut narrow-oblong, 
prismatic, tipped by the long hardened base of the style.—Hook. f. 
MeNopmeAel te 273.5). Tasmeiii. 84; iAandd...N.Z. £1... 299; 
Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 381, and in Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 1216. 
Nortu IstAnp: Mountain districts from Moehau (Cape Colville) and the 
Hast Cape southwards. SourH Isuanp, Stewart Isnanp: Abundant in hilly 
and mountain districts throughout. AucKLAND IsLANDs: Carnley Harbour, 
Kirk ! Usually from 2500 to 5000 ft., but descends to sea-level in Stewart 
Island. December—February. 
